CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



REV. REYNOLD KUEHNEL 



JOSEPH F. WAGNER 

NEW YORK 



REMIGIUS LAFORT, D.D. 

Censor 



Jhnpritnatur 

JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY 

Archbishop of New York 



New York, September 7, 1914 



CJOPYEIGHT, 1914, BY JOSEPH F. WAGNBE, NeW YoRK 



OEC 26 1914 



C!,A391123 



f PREFACE 

J5 TF, as is generally claimed, the welfare of holy Mother Church de- 
~7 pends largely upon well-instructed, loyal and pious men of the laity, 
^- t sodalities for boys and young men should hold an important place 
among the organizations of every parish. One cannot gather figs from 
tliistles; nor can one expect that the men of to-morrow will rally around 
the standard of Christ, if the boys of to-day are permitted to shift for 
themselves in religious matters. 

Even though a small parish contain but twenty boys and young 
men, these twenty deserve as much attention and supervision as the 
hundreds of a larger parish. If these twenty boys are neglected it will 
soon mean twenty men sadly lacking in filial devotion and loyalty to 
holy Mother Church. Nor is this all. These twenty, whether they 
stay at home or scatter abroad, will exert an influence for the worse. 
They will help to tear down where we try to build up. 

There is no parish so small but it should have well-conducted sodal- 
ities, not only for girls and married women, but for boys and men as 
well. Pious girls and women are of great help to the parish; but if 
there be a dearth of religious-minded and dutiful boys and men, the 
parish must soon lose ground. Where boys have no sodality to regulate 
the performance of their religious duties, they will receive the Sacra- 
ments when "they feel like it," which will, at best, mean once or twice 
a year. Such boys will not supply the well-instructed and pious men 
that are needed in our day. A well-conducted sodality will, in its pro- 
motion of frequent holy Communion among men, be a powerful means 
of "restoring all things in Christ." 

In the following Conferences, it is hoped, spiritual directors of boy 
sodalities will fxud practical thought and suggestion, which, applied 
with their own ripened experience and judgment, may help in making 
their talks to boys interesting, instructive and productive of a healthy 
spiritual condition in the young fellows. 

THE AUTHOR. 

Feast of St. Ignattos Loyola, 
1914. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



I The Sodality Badge i 

II Monthly Confession 6 

III Monthly Communion 13 

IV Conduct Before and After Hol)^ Communion 19 

V Frequent Holy Communion 27 

VI Piety 34 

VII Vocation — Its Meaning 41 

VIII Vocation — Prudence in Choosing 49 

IX Vocation — Necessity of Perseverance 57 

X Vocation — Necessity of Diligence 64 

XI The Boy and the College 70 

XII Vocation and Ideals 75 

XIII Formation of Character 81 

XIV The Importance of Trifles 87 

XV The Manly Boy 92 

XVI The Sneaky Boy 98 

XVII The Boy Who Saves 104 

XVIII The Spendthrift no 

XIX The Happy Boy 116 

XX The Chronic Kicker 122 

XXI The Gentle Boy 127 

XXII The Tough 133 

XXIII True Friendship 139 

XXIV Bad Company 146 

XXV The First Commandment. Duties Towards the Holy Faith ... 152 

XXVI Superstition 159 

XXVII Cursing . 166 

XXVIII Sunday 172 

XXIX Obedience 178 



CONTENTS 

Page 

XXX Scandal 184 

XXXI Further Thoughts Upon the Fifth Commandment 190 

XXXII The Wages of Sin 196 

XXXIII The Beauty of Purity 201 

XXXIV Dishonesty 207 

XXXV Various Kinds of Lies 212 

XXXVI Defamation of Character 217 

XXXVII St. Agapitus 223 

XXXVIII St. George 229 

XXXIX St. Stanislaus 235 

XL St. Pancratius 241 

XLI Blessed Hermann Joseph 247 

XLII St. John Berchmans 254 

XLIII St. Hermenegild 260 

XLV Daniel 273 

XLVI Samuel 280 

XL VII St. Sebastian 287 

XLVIII St. Aloysius 293 

XLIX The Boy and His Guardian Angel 299 

L The Boy and His Devotion to the Blessed Virgin 305 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



I. The Sodality Badge 

My dear boys : Every society has a badge or emblem by which we 
can recognize its members. So, too, St. Aloysius Sodality has its 
badge that distinguishes you from those who are not members of 
it. You wear this badge at every public function, like monthly 
Communions, parades, funerals of fellow-members and the like. 
But before you leave the church or hall, this badge is carefully laid 
aside. Now, since we are told to let our light shine, you can 
scarcely be content with wearing this badge only for an hour once a 
month. You certainly should wear some badge by which you can 
be distinguished from the rest. 

You might feel ill at ease were I to ask you to wear always the 
medal of the sodality. The badge to which I have reference is — your 
conduct. Your conduct should be such that people may be able to 
say of you: "This boy belongs to the sodality. His example is 
edifying." 

No one can convince me that a boy outside of the sodality can be 
as good as one who is in it. The main reason a boy will have for 
staying away from the sodality — if he has the redeeming feature 
of being candid — will be monthly Confession and holy Communion. 
And what can be expected of a boy who has grown careless about 
the receiving of the holy Sacraments? Let his manners be ever 
so polished, like beauty they are only skin deep. Your conduct 



I 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



should be such that, at first sight, you can be distinguished from 
such. 

Unfortunately, even members of the sodality are not always what 
they might or should be. If, with all the helps and graces of the 
frequent reception of the holy Sacraments, they fail to meet the 
expectations God and His holy angels have placed in them, how 
they would fail if these favors were denied to them ! From this }'OU 
can readily understand how the boy, who misses his monthly Con- 
fession and holy Communion from time to time, cannot be as good 
and pure at heart as the boy who never breaks this all-important 
rule of the sodality. Hence, too, you will see that Christian conduct 
does not adorn each one of you like a badge of honor. 

God expects much of you; your guardian angel looks to your 
welfare like an older brother; your parents place in you all their 
hopes, their consolation and their pride ; the parish looks up to you 
as the future supporters; the world, knowing you are Catholic 
boys, expects you to be cleaner, purer, more pious and more honor- 
able than others. The whole world, God and His angels are in- 
terested in your daily conduct. Is it a wonder this conduct of yours 
should be a badge whereby all can distinguish you from such who 
are a disgrace to God, Church and Country? 

Since the best are not without faults it will not be out of place to 
consider in detail the requirements of conduct. 

What is your conduct like at home ? 

Are you ever ready and willing to do little favors even though 
they be inconvenient? How many boys there are who expect any 
amount of favors from others at home; but, if it is a question of 
returning a favor, the very smallest is considered an imposition! 
You expect every favor from your parents. They feed you and 
clothe you and board you because they love you more than them- 



THE SODALITY BADGE 



3 



selves. Many a night they watched at your bedside when you were 
sick. Gladly would they die for you if by that sacrifice they could 
promote your welfare. Let them ask a favor of you and you 
grumble ! Some boys even venture to ask a bribe of a few pennies 
to go to the grocery for a tired mother! If we could read the 
meaning of some of the wrinkles care and worry have carved upon 
the brows of parents we would discover the secret of many a 
broken heart. 

How do you treat your brothers and sisters ? Are you faultfinding, 
spoiling every pleasure or play unless you can be the self-constituted 
head? A certain class of boys are constantly on the alert to play 
tricks upon others, always ready to tease, ever prepared for any 
joke or prank at the expense of others. The moment, however, a 
trick is played at their own expense they are insulted. Do you treat 
your brothers and sisters with the consideration they deserve on 
account of being of your own flesh and blood ? Toward your older 
brothers and sisters you should at all times show deference and 
good will; toward your younger, patience, kindness and prudence. 
The older brother must never forget that, to some extent, he shares 
the responsibilities of his parents. He must, by his own example, 
teach his younger brothers and sisters the virtue of obedience. For 
the present, you will not be able to understand how much more 
pleasant and easy you render the burdens of your parents by ex- 
ercising the virtue of obedience, nor can you realize how sad and 
distressing parental duties grow when, by your own example, you 
teach your younger brothers and sisters to rebel against the authority 
of parents. 

How do you conduct yourself away from home? 
Boys, as a rule, are fair judges of one another. When a boy 
cannot find a chum or friend in the wide world, the fault is, usually, 



4 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



his own. There is something about his conduct that is repelHng 
instead of attracting. His disposition, his bearing and temper 
prevent the growth of true friendship. And so we find boys who 
are shunned by all, they keep to themselves — not of choice but of 
necessity. 

Still another class of boys are models everywhere but at home. 
One would hardly think, knowing the conduct of some at home and 
elsewhere, that they can be the same ones. At home they will be 
rough and overbearing; away from home they will fall all over 
themselves in trying to show all their good points to the best 
advantage ! 

Can you say candidly and sincerely that by your conduct people 
can point to you with pride and say: "You boys are a credit 
to the sodality and the Church to which you belong?" If not, 
you know what is expected of you! Conduct and good manners 
will, I admit, be at times misunderstood. To show good man- 
ners it will not be necessary to have a crease in your trousers sharp 
enough to cut a two-inch plank; it will not be necessary to use 
the longest words of the dictionary ; it will not be necessary to keep 
up with the latest styles of handshakes and neckties ; it will not be 
necessary to study the thousand and one rules of etiquette of the 
"upper circles." That may be well and good for people who have 
nothing else to do. 

It is by no means a sign of good manners to give your seat in a 
street-car to a handsome young lady while a poor woman with 
a child on her arms or carrying a bundle of washing is left stand- 
ing; it is not good manners to creep and crawl before the rich and 
mighty of this earth to gain some favor; it is not good manners 
to act like a king toward those beneath us. True politeness does 
not consist in any of these actions. 



THE SODALITY BADGE 



5 



The key to good manners and politeness is nothing else than 
Christian charity. 

It would be uncharitable to talk of the faults of others. It would 
be uncharitable to laugh at the whims and ideas of old people, it 
would be uncharitable to expose the faults and shortcomings of 
those at home. It would be uncharitable to be domineering, gruff 
and insolent. Hence, it would be impolite. Practise charity in 
thought, word and deed and no one with an ounce of common sense 
in his system will doubt your genuine politeness. Your conduct 
will open to you every heart. You will find good will where others 
may be like strangers in a strange land. 

The badge, then, I want you to wear at all times is conduct based 
upon Christian charity. Wear the badge at all times and all places. 
Your opportunities for good will be countless. 

An older brother may be struck with the force of your good 
example; a companion of your shop or factory may be moved by 
your own good example ; you may pave the way for some others to 
the true Church ! 

And, even though no one apparently takes note of your good 
example, it will never escape the all-seeing eye of God. Your 
guardian angel will treasure up for you each one of your efforts to 
add to your reward and happiness in the world to come. 



6 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



II. Monthly Confession 

My dear boys: Very often the question is asked: 'Why belong 
to a sodaHty? All there is to it is monthly Confession and Com- 
munion and dues and conferences. That is all!" What is worse, 
careless members of the sodaHty ask the very same question. They 
say: "What is there to it; it is only a money scheme." Solomon 
in his age, so they think, was no wiser man than they. Ever since 
they have thrown their schoolbooks aside, they think they are lords 
and masters of the entire world. I have told you at the time you 
were instructed for receiving your first holy Communion how the 
world would try to poison your minds with ideas of free thought, 
liberty so-called, independence of action and a number of similar 
phrases the meaning of which, though they may sound ever so 
sweet to the ear, are poison to the mind. In some cases my warn- 
ings were prophecies that, alas, have been fulfilled. 

In this, as well as the following conferences, we shall con- 
sider some of the many reasons why the sodality is a necessity. 
I only hope they may be strong enough to encourage you to per- 
severe and to suggest arguments to you against any possibility of 
backsliding. 

It is true the sodality has not been intended to give you a pic- 
nic every week ; nor is it intended to make you finished actors, sing- 
ers, debaters, ball-players, entertainers or athletes. Like the Church, 
the sodality may endeavor to promote social benefits. But, like the 
Church, the sodality as its helper, can have but one purpose over- 
shadowing all other objects. And that object is the saving of your 



MONTHLY CONFESSION 



7 



soul. Considering temporal benefits only, you derive very few ad- 
vantages from the sodality. Its benefits are of a higher, of the 
spiritual order, far surpassing any worldly or temporal considera- 
tion. 

The aim, then, of the sodality, is to make good Catholic men of 
you, to teach you to be faithful to God, home and country. 

The method employed by the sodality is to bring together well- 
disposed boys, uniting them in the duties of monthly Confession and 
holy Communion, and daily prayers, edifying them by their 
mutual good example, and strengthening them in their noble 
efiforts by means of conferences that are compiled with a view to 
meet the needs of their tender years. For there is no time in your 
life, boys, when you are tempted more and experienced less than 
the present time. It is true, you know your catechism, let us 
hope from cover to cover; you can "read, write and figure." 
But this is not all you should know. Since you have reached the 
period of your life in which you begin to earn your daily bread 
you meet with difficulties and temptations that, during your time 
of childhood, were unknown to you. Now you need more strength 
and judgment than during the days of school. Temptations becom- 
ing greater, you likewise stand in need of more grace. 

And how, let me ask you, can you expect this additional grace 
of God when, for months and months, you live in a state of mortal 
sin ! 

Here, then, we come to the necessity of monthly Confession. 
And how many or rather how few would think of going to Con- 
fession even once a month unless the sodality gave them its moral 
force and help by means of the indulgence with which it is endowed, 
and the good example one gives to another. 

That you may realize what importance the sodality attaches to 



8 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



the rule of monthly Confession, I will give you a few reasons each 
one of which ought to influence you to never break this important 
rule. 

The first reason for monthly Confession is to train your mind to 
a constant submission to the holy Will of God. It is certainly a 
pity to see how eagerly some boys will strive for complete inde- 
pendence long before they begin to wear long trousers. No sooner 
have they left school than they do "as they please." It is of no use 
to exhort them to go to Confession! They do "as they please." 
They can never go as often or at the time the pastor wishes them to 
go. They simply "don't have to." And, then, they would lack 
devotion; nor, so they claim, should they be driven like machines 
or cattle, — for they are so brilliant and have a mind of their own. 
They will go to Confession whenever it pleases them and not sooner. 
Bright and cunning as they are their zeal for their soul will only 
bring them to Confession once or twice a year. Poor boys ! They 
may think themselves above you. They are not! In the mean- 
time, the devil has poured the first drop of poison into their hearts 
and the poison has begun to work upon them. Like Lucifer, they 
say : "I will not obey God. I will do exactly as I please !" 

Now ; when are we obliged to go to Confession ? We are obliged 
to go to Confession as soon as we have committed a mortal sin. 
Pay special attention to the words "As soon as we have committed 
a mortal sin." That does not mean a month or a year after the sin 
has been committed, but as soon as it is possible for us to go 
to church. Be sure to make a perfect act of contrition after you 
have had the misfortune of committing a mortal sin and do not delay 
Confession after that. Do not even wait until your next monthly 
Confession. 

Some time ago a young m.an came to the priest house. It was 



MONTHLY CONFESSION 



0 



nearly nine o'clock in the evening. "Father," he said, "I want to 
g-o to Confession to you. I had the misfortune of committing a 
mortal sin, and I dare not think of going to rest with that sin upon 
my conscience." Which one, do you think, will be the better Catho- 
lic in later years : this young man who would not remain in mortal 
sin for even a day — or the young man who goes to Confession when 
he feels like it — which means, perhaps, once a year? Which one, 
do you think will be happier in life and in death? 

A second reason in favor of monthly Confession is found in the 
fact that God made us according to His image and likeness. If 
our only aim and purpose of life would be to eat and drink and 
work and sleep, God might have made us cattle or hogs. God, 
however, wished to raise us to a higher level. He made us to 
resemble Him. He raised us to a higher dignity than the very 
angels. We are the adopted children of God, a higher title than 
which we could ever presume to maintain for ourselves. 

As children resemble their parents, and we being the children 
of God, bearing within us a resemblance of our heavenly Father, 
let us ask ourselves wherein this likeness consists by means of which 
God can recognize us as His own! St. John, the beloved disciple, 
gives us this answer: "For this is your vocation, your sanctifica- 
tion." With the grace of God we are to make ourselves holy. In 
the proportion of our growth in holiness we resemble our heavenly 
Father more and more! The very first step towards this aim of 
holiness is to overcome the prejudice against frequent Confession. 

Have you ever observed how easily you examined your con- 
science when, for instance, you observed the six Sundays in honor 
of St. Aloysius? You discovered sins the very existence of which 
would have completely escaped you had you delayed Confession for 
some months. And now, let me ask you, how can we try to re- 



16 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



semble God more closely if we fail to know ourselves ? How can we 
try to be free from sin and become more just and holy from day to 
day if we are not even aware of our many faults that prevent holi- 
ness? Unless we know all our weaknesses, our predominant sins, 
our most frequent temptations and shortcomings, we can never 
think of overcoming our faults. If you were to work in a garden, 
you would be very foolish if you were to pull out the weeds only 
once or twice a year. A poor sight of a garden you would have, 
indeed. The garden must be gone over every few days. After every 
rain, the weeds will crop out again. 

To drive this example home to you, place ''heart" for "garden" 
and "sins" for "weeds." Then you will understand the necessity 
of frequent Confession. Then you will understand its relation to 
holiness. But, some of you may say, Father, you don't want all of 
us to be saints ! Indeed, I mean nothing else. Holiness is not for 
a chosen few but for all. To be holy it is not necessary to perform 
miracles nor to enter a convent, nor to die for your holy Faith. I 
do not know how better to explain holiness to you than by calling 
it spiritual cleanliness. 

When you rise in the morning, do you run over to the mirror to 
see whether you should wash your face? You reach for soap and 
water and wash yourself. If, by some accident, you should get a 
black mark upon your face will you walk around the rest of the 
day and simply say : "Oh, never mind, I am going to wash myself 
to-morrow?" You certainly will not if you have any regard for 
yourself. You understand only too well that people judge you by 
just such signs. If you go about dirty-looking, people will size you 
up to be equally careless and slouchy in every other regard. 

If it is so necessary to keep our body clean, even though in a 
few years it will become the food of worms, how much more atten- 



MONTHLY CONFESSION 



tion ought we give to the soul ! If we wish to appear clean before 
people that they may not form a bad opinion of us, how much more 
cleanly ought we to keep our soul lest God, who sees our hearts, 
form a bad opinion of us ! Just as impossible as it is to have day and 
night at the same time, so it is impossible to possess spiritual cleanli- 
ness or holiness together with mortal sin. Is it any wonder the priest 
mentions the necessity of frequent Confesion as often as he does? 

A third reason speaking in favor of frequent or at least monthly 
Confession is found in the forming of a good habit. We will, in 
later years, be what we make of ourselves in our youth. "A young 
man, according to his way, even when he is old, will not depart 
from it." Such, indeed, is the strength of the habits we form in 
youth that even though we depart from them for a time, we will 
never feel like ourselves until we return to them. 

One of these ironbound habits you should form is punctuality. 
A man who is not punctual, who cannot do a certain work in a 
given time, will have only himself to blame for the failure of his 
life. If we are shifty and careless about time, if we do a day's 
work in three days' time, we will never be able to claim that our 
work is a howling success! 

Now, boys, reason for a moment! If punctuality is so neces- 
sary for our temporal welfare can we expect to promote our eternal 
welfare in a shifty sort of way? 

The boy who is punctual in going to Confession, will be suc- 
cessful in the most important work of his life, the saving of his 
immortal soul. Owing to his frequent Confessions, God will give 
him more graces ; his understanding being enlightened, he will see 
into his faults and temptations; his power of will being strength- 
ened, he will more readily overcome evil and so work onward and 
upward to greater holiness. 



1^ 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



There are boys for whom the sodality has neither charm nor 
inducements. And, if you judge a tree by its fruit, — a boy by his 
works, — the reason is not hard to find. They may prefer to remain 
in mortal sin for months and years; they may prefer bad company 
to good; the way of the world rather than the holy Will of God. 
They are often slaves of satan rather than children of God. 

The boy of the sodality, however, who makes it a practise to go 
to Confession once a month at least, will, in later years, be a pious 
Catholic, an honor to the Church and a joy to God and His angels 
because in the days of his youth he has not forgotten his God. 



MONTHLY COMMUNION. 



13 



III. Monthly Communion 

My dear boys : It has often seemed strange to me to think of the 
earnestness of boys during the instructions preceding their first 
holy Communion, to think of how they were impressed with the 
solemn and consoling truths concerning the most holy Eucharist, 
and to compare this zeal and good-will with their conduct of a few 
months later on. 

Indeed, does it not seem strange to you that, in spite of all the 
instructions you have received a few months ago, you are to receive 
another instruction upon the very same sacred subject! 

To refresh your memory, I will, with the aid of examples and 
comparisons, try to recall to your mind the pious sentiments and 
the earnest resolutions you had formed when, for the first time in 
your life, you received the Bread of angels. 

At times you may have remarked how much more you eat than 
grown people. A healthy boy will eat more than many a grown-up 
man. Many a man does not eat as much — and he is older, taller, 
stronger and more able to work than you. Still your intense 
hunger is no mystery. Everybody knows you are growing. In- 
deed, your growth would receive a setback, you might even get sick, 
if your food were not as good and plentiful. 

Now, what food is for the body, holy Communion is for the soul. 
As the well-being, strength and growth of the body depends upon 
the quality and quantity of food you take, so the soul depends for 
her growth and strength of grace upon her food — holy Commun- 
ion. Every one of us desires to gain and maintain strength and 
health of body. Should we think less of our soul ? Should we per- 
mit our soul to hunger and thirst for holy Communion while we 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



Spare no efforts to keep our bodies well fed ? In their development, 
body and soul should keep step. There is but one difference. In 
course of time our bodies will cease to grow; a few years mxore 
and our strength will leave us ; our senses of sight or hearing will 
grow poorer, sickness will weaken the frame^ — until death lays his 
bony finger upon our hearts. The soul, however, being immortal, 
knows no old age. Therefore, the soul goes on growing 
in grace and virtue before God and man. Therefore, too, the soul 
must ever be nourished with at least the same care and diligence 
you exercise in promoting the growth and strength of 3^our youth- 
ful bodies. 

From what has been said you will readily understand how natural 
it is for a pious boy to grow in grace, whilst another boy who goes 
to receive holy Communion "when he feels like it" — which means 
once or twice a year — may live in sin for months and months 
without the least remorse. The one boy obeys his conscience, the 
other does not. 

To emphasize the necessity of monthly Communion we will nov/ 
look into some of the effects resulting from it. 

Taking for granted that the boy prepares himself properly for 
holy Communion and that he does not neglect to make a fitting 
thanksgiving, the first effect will be an increase of sanctifying grace. 
This means that, every time the boy of the sodality approaches the 
holy table, he becomes more precious, more lovable and holy in 
the sight of the heavenly Father. God will much sooner hear the 
prayers of such a saintly boy than those of another boy who cares 
little whether he pleases or offends God. To the saintly boy God 
will grant more blessings, more favors, more graces, because He 
loves him more. Even, if in an unguarded moment, this zealous 
boy should have the misfortune of committing a mortal sin, it is 



MONTHLY COMMUNION 



not he who will remain in it for months and months. He will 
return to the heavenly Father long before the prodigal son can 
make up his mind to ask pardon. He will go to Confession as soon 
as possible. And only the angels now know how God will reward 
that one Confession and holy Communion. Only God knows the 
zeal, humility and sorrow of that boy. And be sure. He will not 
forget to reward it. 

There is one certain story the priest hears in the confessional 
more than any other. It is this: "Father, I got into a bad habit 
and I don't know how to quit it. I try and try, but I cannot let go." 
If this same boy would say : "I don't want to quit this bad habit," 
he would not be telling a lie. There is one remedy for every bad 
habit. It is the only remedy we have, frequent holy Communion! 
In virtue of it the very inclination to evil will be lessened. A boy 
who receives holy Communion frequently will not snap at every 
sinful thought the devil baits for him. The saintly boy will weigh 
his thoughts, words and deeds, think them over seriously and, 
usually, see them in their true light. Frequent holy Communion 
will make him "walk with God." The saintly boy will recall the 
presence of God for each good work he should perform and each 
sinful act he should avoid. 

No sooner does the snow melt away than you see the first green 
blade of grass. A few days more, and you see the first little flowers 
of spring stretching their little heads over the dead leaves of a 
bygone year. As soon as frequent holy Communion begins to melt 
the snow of evil inclination the first little flowers of virtue begin to 
blossom. At first, these virtues, like the flowers of early spring, 
are small and delicate. But, as the sun of grace shines more and 
more abundantly into our hearts, there grow up loftier virtues just 
as the summer sun produces the grandest flowers. 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



Besides promoting in us a growth of virtues, holy Communion 
produces still another effect upon our bodies, unworthy though we 
be. Our divine Saviour has promised that He will awaken from 
their last sleep those who receive Himi in holy Communion. They 
will arise gloriously from death even as He arose gloriously from 
the grave that first memorable Easter morning. Through holy 
Communion our divine Saviour plants in our body the germ of 
immortality. It is true, we will die. Our body will have to pay the 
penalty of sin by returning to earth from which it was made. 
Nevertheless, this body of ours will arise better, stronger and more 
beautiful than it ever was, never to die again, if we have passed 
from this life in the love and grace of God. 

All these wonderful benefits ought really to make us go and 
receive holy Communion every day. And yet some must be admon- 
ished and coaxed and encouraged and even scolded to approach the 
altar railing more than once a year ! 

Something must be wrong with our minds when we can deliber- 
ately think of all these reasons for frequent holy Communion with- 
out acting upon them. 

Unfortunately, there are boys thinking that all these instructions 
coming from the pulpit are, to say the least, overdrawn. Just be- 
cause God does not punish every sinner at the moment of sin some 
people think sin is not so bad after all. God would be perfectly 
within His rights were He to send fire and brimstone upon every 
wicked city as He did upon Sodom and Gomorrah; would be 
perfectly within His rights were He to punish the sinful world as 
He did at the time of the deluge; would be perfectly within His 
rights were He to punish us after our first mortal sin, even as He 
punished the fallen angels ; but how unfortunate would we, poor 
sinners, be unless He tempered justice with mercy? What time 



MONTHLY COMMUNION 



17 



or chance would we have for repentance or conversion unless God 
showed patience and mercy? Is it not mean and small of us 
to make use of this very mercy and patience of God to add sins 
upon sins? To live in mortal sins for months and months means 
nothing else than daring God to do His worst. 

There are other boys, not quite as reckless as those we have 
spoken of, who, for a time, continue in the practices of the sodality 
with no other purpose in view than of placing their parents and 
priest under some kind of obligation for being so tremendously 
good. In course of time, getting older and bolder and apparently 
more independent, they drift with the rest and it becomes a most 
distressing problem to induce them to receive the Sacraments at all. 

If you reason a little, you will discover that such conduct is 
utterly wrong. Your parents as well as your priest only comply 
with their duty in telling you what is right and wrong. Here their 
duty stops and your duty begins. Of course, it will be a source 
of joy and consolation to your good parents and myself, your priest, 
when we see that our words of advice have taken root and brought 
forth fruit a hundred-fold. But, remember, neither your parents 
nor your priest will suffer for your folly so long as they have dis- 
charged their duty of instructing you. You know the holy will of 
God. It is a question of life and death for you; heaven or hell 
depends upon the choice you make. The advantage and favor, then, 
is all on your side. 

Will these reasons be strong enough to confirm you in the resolu- 
tion of receiving holy Communion every month? There is another 
reason! Have you ever thought of death? As we live, so we die! 
I have seen many die, but I never saw one die unhappily who had 
received holy Communion frequently. 

Of the number that is gathered here to-day, it is safe to say that 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



fully a third, if not more, will die suddenly. Do you know what 
that means? There will be about sixty of us, if not more, who 
will pass from this world without a sign of warning; not a touch 
of sickness will give us a hint that the end is near. Sixty of us will 
die without, perhaps, enough time to make an act of contrition. Ask 
yourself: "Would I want to die this very moment?" If for some 
reason or other you have to say ''No," take this as a warning. 
You might not want to die when die you must. You may want to 
go to Confession. Do that now! Who knows — it may be too 
late even to-morrow ! Would you like to die suddenly after having 
stayed away from the Sacraments for ten or twelve months? 
Certainly not ! But, for all you or I know, you may be one of the 
sixty who will die without a moment of warning. Therefore, be 
prepared. 

Imagine an accident in your shop or factory. Several men are 
killed on the spot. Two men you know lie side by side — dead. 
You knew them both. One of them had not gone to Confession for 
a year. You saw him in church very seldom. The other dead man 
had received holy Communion only the Sunday before and, apart 
from the failings and frailties to which each one of us is subject, 
you could hardly point to a single serious fault in his life. In 
whose place would you wish to be, if it had been your turn to die? 

It will not take you long to decide. You would desire to be in 
the place of him who had received holy Communion only a few 
days before. 

Because God has hidden from us the time and place of death it 
is necessary for us to be prepared at all times to meet Him. With 
this constant danger of death before our eyes, is it asking too much 
to ask you to receive holy Communion at least once a month ? Think 
this over! 



CONDUCT BEFORE AND AFTER HOLY COMMUNION 19 



IV. Conduct Before and After Holy Communion 

My dear boys : A hundred of you, a thousand of you, may receive 
holy Communion at the same time and no two of you receive the 
same amount of graces. It is true, every one of you receives the 
same Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, but the graces vary accord- 
ing to the disposition with which we receive Him. The one may 
receive hardly any grace, the other may be made a saint. 

Why? 

The graces stand in exact proportion to our disposition of heart, 
depend upon the manner in which we prepare ourselves and the way 
in which we act after holy Communion. In order, then that you 
may receive the choicest graces from our Lord, we will devote 
this conference to a better understanding of our obligations towards 
our Saviour in holy Communion. 

As a rule, you will make your preparation for holy Communion 
as indicated in your prayer-books. You will recite a certain set of 
prayers as given there. But even these will often be prayers 
merely of the lips, of which the heart knows and feels nothing. And 
that sort of a preparation will not count for many graces. God may 
send down the nicest rain, but unless the fields and gardens are kept 
in a good condition beforehand, the rain will do very little else than 
give the weeds a fair show of growing all the more plentifully. 

The most sublime, the most holy act of our life is the receiving 
of our Lord in holy Communion. His coming into our hearts is at 
once the loftiest and most humble sign of His infinite love. From 
this it will be evident that a worthy preparation and thanksgiving is 



20 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



necessary to show the appreciation of our dignity and the condescen- 
sion of our blessed Redeemer. 

I will not remind you of the necessity of making a good confession 
if you are in state of mortal sin. That is understood. Nor need I say 
that you should be dressed becomingly. This does not mean that if 
you are poor you are to stay at home. If a patched coat is all you 
have, wear it ; but let it be clean. Wear a collar and tie, if you can 
afford it. Whatever you do wear, be it ever so poor, by all means 
let it be clean! Let the neatness and cleanliness of your outward 
appearance be a sign of the purity of your heart. By the way, I 
might remark that you should be more careful about your appear- 
ance in church than you are in going to a party, or picnic, or theater. 
The most of us may be poor, but, so long as soap and water are 
cheap, we should at least look and conduct ourselves becomingly in 
the presence of God and his holy angels. 

Some boys complain about the many thoughts of distraction dur- 
ing preparation for holy Communion. Those thoughts can be 
avoided very easily if you try to keep silent in coming to church. 
How can you help being distracted in your prayers when in coming 
to church you talk of everything under the sun, from gossips to 
jokes! When you wish to receive holy Communion, keep silent 
from the time you say your morning prayers till after you have com- 
pleted your thanksgiving. For the first few times it may seem 
strange to you to come to church without saying a word on the 
way. After a short while, however, you will wonder how you could 
ever get along without this silence before holy Communion. To 
make your silence appear more easy, walk alone I In the meantime 
busy your thoughts with thinking about our Saviour waiting for 
you in the Tabernacle. Picture to yourself how our dear Lord 
intercedes for you in the Tabernacle. Think of how impatiently 



CONDUCT BEFORE AND AFTER HOLY COMMUNION 21 

Jesus is waiting for the time to again enter your heart, the gifts He 
will bring along, the favors you will ask of Him, and your very 
silence will be a pleasing prayer. 

Silence may seem too hard to try. Do try ! Our dear Saviour is 
worth this sacrifice and, what is more. He will appreciate how hard it 
is and reward it accordingly. 

After your very first attempt of silence, you will notice a remark- 
able change in your prayers. Your acts of faith, hope, charity, de- 
sire, humility, and sorrow will have meanings for you that you 
never found before. You pray earnestly and fervently, because 
you have prepared yourself by silence. You have gathered your 
thoughts before coming to church, and as your whole mind is turned 
towards God, prayer becomes easy. In such frame of mind it is a 
pleasure to speak with God. And so the most holy and important 
moment of your life draws nearer and nearer. The time arrives 
when you go up to the altar railing with folded hands and downcast 
eyes. It is the very moment which is desired still more fervently 
by your divine Visitor. Be sure that the more pleasant and agree- 
able you render His reception, the more plentiful will be the tokens 
of His love. 

The moments following holy Communion are the most solemn and 
sacred of our lives. Jesus rests in our hearts as our guest. If it 
were possible for the angels to entertain an unkind or envious 
thought, they would have all reason for looking at us with a feeling 
of envy. We share a happiness the like of which has been denied 
to them. For this reason we should make the best possible use of 
these precious moments. And that means nothing else than a fitting 
thanksgiving. 

Is it enough to simply recite the few prayers indicated in your 
prayer-books? By no means! It is time to say those or similar 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



prayers after holy Mass. You see the priest coming back to the 
sanctuary after he has taken off the sacred vestments of Mass. He 
returns to make his thanksgiving. Hence, do not fail to make a 
proper thanksgiving after your holy Communion. Do not fail to 
thank Jesus from the bottom of your heart for the great honor 
He has conferred upon you. 

When you have received our dear Lord, return to your seat with 
folded hands and downcast eyes. Do not look around, but as soon 
as you have returned to your seat, kneel down, keep your eyes 
closed and speak to your Lord and God as you would if you could 
see Him face to face. 

If a friend of whom you thought a great deal should come to visit 
you, would you let him stand and not say as much as one word of 
greeting? Would you talk to someone else in the meantime, or 
leave the house for some reason or other and let your friend do as 
he pleased, stay or leave? No, indeed not! You would go up to 
him, tell him how glad you are because of his coming to see you; 
you would tell him to make himself perfectly at home; 3^ou would 
ask him ever so many questions about himself, his work, his plans, 
and all his likes and dislikes ; you would tell him all about your own 
plans for the future, and, if you knew that he was ever ready to h^lp, 
you would ask him his advice and help in the work you have in 
mind; you would try to entertain him as best you could by sparing 
no efforts to make his stay with you one of the memories he will 
cherish for years to come. In a similar manner we should try to 
entertain our divine Visitor, The very first moment we may be at 
a loss to know what to say. We may, for the time being, be dazed, 
hardly realizing that it is God who has come to our sinful hearts. 
Our Lord will be pleased even with this, our humble embarrassment. 
Then, with a sudden burst of joy, we will find words to greet Kim, 



CONDUCT BEFORE AND AFTER HOLY COMMUNION 23 



to bid Him welcome, to thank Him for His condescension in coming 
to our cold, sinful hearts, and to ask Him for all the graces and 
favors we need for body and soul. 

In speaking with our Saviour, it is not necessary to look for the 
choicest expressions and the longest words. Little does He care 
for well-turned phrases and beautiful sentences. If our plain and 
humble words have the ring of sincerity, our Lord is satisfied. For 
He has come to us not for His sake, but for our own. He has come 
to be asked ; come to listen ; come to grant. Our dear Lord is actually 
loaded down with gifts and graces. We have the choice. He is 
more anxious to give than we can possibly be to receive them. 

Where is the boy who has no favors to ask of his divine Guest? 

What about your temptations, your principal weakness? Your 
trials or difficulties ? Have you no favors to ask ? You stand at the 
threshold of life, beginning to follow a vocation, or at the point of 
making a choice. Have you no favor to ask? You m^ay have some 
little sorrow, some trouble. God may want 3^ou to make some sacri- 
fice. And do you not need the help of God ? After holy Communion 
you experience a feeling of rest and safety you feel at no other 
time. Jesus is with you. You have nothing to fear when He is at 
your side. Would you like to feel as safe and happy at death? 
Certainly ! Well, ask our Lord to grant you a happy death. How 
can our blessed Redeemer refuse you this wish since He wishes you 
nothing more sincerely than this very favor ? In His infinite wisdom 
He may deem it necessary to refuse some temporal favor, knowing 
that it would harm you more than benefit you. But how could He 
have the heart to deny 3^ou this favor of a happy death if you make 
it one of the many favors you have to ask of Him? Never receive 
a holy Communion without reminding your divine Guest of the 
grace of a happy death. 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



You can never repay your parents for all they have done for you. 
Ought you not ask Jesus to bless them for you ? He will like it if 
you remind Him of the tender love He had for His blessed Mother 
and His foster-father, St. Joseph, and tell Him how you would like 
to imitate Him in His love and obedience. 

You have brothers and sisters, relatives, benefactors, friends 
and, perhaps, enemies. You have your teachers, your priest. Jesus 
would like you to say a short prayer for all of them. Ask Him 
to bless and protect them. 

Finally, there are the poor souls asking you to remember them. 
For some of them you are bound to pray : as, for instance, the souls 
of your departed relatives, friends, and such others that might be 
there on your account. In your charity you should likewise re- 
member the rest. There is one dead benefactor whom you should 
never forget. Pray for the priest who baptized you. People are 
forgotten soon after death. But the grass does not begin to grow 
above the grave of a priest before he is forgotten. For your sake 
he has taken upon himself the gravest responsibilities. All his life 
he prays for you. Should you not say a little prayer for him after 
he has passed away? By all means remember your late pastor in 
your prayers. 

Speaking to our Saviour in your own humble words, the time 
passes all too soon. You will rise for the last Gospel and scarcely 
be half through talking with your heavenly Visitor. After you have 
completed your appeals to the love and mercy of Jesus, you may 
open your prayer-books to recite the prayers set apart for thanks- 
giving. If you still find words to speak to our Saviour in your own 
way, leave the prayer-book aside. Your own words, plain and 
humble though they be, will be more pleasing to God. 

From this remark you will understand that prayer-books are not 



CONDUCT BEFORE AND AFTER HOLY COMMUNION 25 



absolutely necessary to pray with devotion. Since praying means 
speaking to God, we are by no means bound to use a set or certain 
form of prayers contained on a printed page. If we can speak to 
God in our own words — and with a little practise we can do it — 
the prayer will be said with much more devotion, or rather, dis- 
tractions will not be as frequent. Prayer-books are like life-pre- 
servers. A good swimmer will be able to swim far better without 
the cumbersome weight around his shoulders. When we cannot 
keep above water without such help a life-preserver is necessary. 
The most effective prayer, then, especially after holy Communion, 
is a personal prayer — one formed in our own words. Such a per- 
sonal prayer was at all times the most favorite prayer of the saints. 
It is nothing else than meditation, or mental prayer. 

The only time we must confine ourselves to the prayer-book is 
when we wish to gain some indulgence by reciting some definite 
prayer. Then we must recite the prayer word for word, carrying 
cut the conditions contained in it. And, by the way, never end 
your thanksgiving without gaining one or more of such indulgences 
for yourself and the poor souls of Purgatory, 

By following out these few hints regarding your preparation and 
thanksgiving, your holy Communions will bear fruit for time and 
eternity. In course of time it will be easier to keep the rule of 
silence before holy Communion, and the prayer following will be 
said more earnestly and more devoutly. Gradually, too, it will be- 
come easier for us to speak with Jesus in our own humble way, 
And as by your prayers and disposition you show that you appreciate 
the visits of Christ more and more, the graces resulting from holy 
Communion will become greater and more far-reaching each time. 

In some way all your holy Communions are a preparation for 
your last holy Communion. What emotions and thoughts will cross 



26 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



your mind when Jesus enters your suffering heart to console and 
strengthen you for your last battle and your journey to eternity. 
God grant that your last thanksgiving may not be confined to a few 
moments, but that it may last forever in heaven. 



FREQUENT HOLY COMMUNION 



27 



V. Frequent Holy Communion 

My dear boys: A number of you will, no doubt, be surprised 
when I tell you that monthly holy Communion is not the very tip 
and height of perfection. Some boys may think that, since they re- 
ceive holy Communion every month, they are as perfect as perfect 
can be. Nothing may be more misleading. 

You see every Sunday an organized body of men, young men, 
women or young ladies, approaching the altar railing. Their flags 
and their badges tell you what they stand for. The reason of this 
general monthly Communion is to be found in the edification and 
good example, the force of which is based upon the number of 
people in one society. Now, if you boys were not organized as a 
sodality, and you were left at liberty to receive holy Communion 
whenever you liked, how many or how few would be found at the 
altar railing every month? Some might have received holy Com- 
munion to-day, others next month, others next year. People would 
ask, and rightly, too, "Where are the boys of the parish?" But, 
since you receive holy Communion in a body once a month, and 
since there are a hundred and fifty of you, the parish wakes up and 
looks at that number of well-meaning boys and draws from that 
sight many a wholesome lesson. Every fourth Sunday you help to 
give good example. Many a boy would be lost but for the force 
of the example he gets from this very Sunday. Many a young man 
who has dropped out of the ranks will, by the force of this good 
example, be led back to where he belongs. And so, without being 
aware of it, you exert an influence for the welfare of others. You 
may, perhaps, attach very little importance to the value of your 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



monthly holy Communion as a source of edification for others, still 
it is very, very important. God will in His own good time and way 
grant you a reward for this good example, far surpassing your ex- 
pectations. 

Important as monthly Communion is from the standpoint of your 
sodality, it does by no means imply that you should never receive 
holy Communion outside of that Sunday. It may, at times, be 
necessary or advisable to go to Confession and holy Communion out- 
side of your monthly Confession and Communion. 

You would never think of working hard for a week, or two, or 
three without wanting your pay. It is no more than right that you 
should have your wages after you have done the work. And yet 
we find any number of boys working for nothing. They may say 
some prayers, may keep the Fridays and go to church on Sundays, 
may do works of charity, and yet do them for nothing, because they 
live in mortal sin. They may have had the misfortune of committing 
one the week after their monthly Confession. Hardly realizing their 
serious condition, they will say: "Oh, never mind; in three weeks 
I will again go to Confession. That long I can certainly wait!" 
In the meantime they work all in vain. Whatever good they may do 
will not be of any merit for heaven. 

We live for nothing, work for nothing, pray for nothing, suffer 
for nothing when we live in mortal sin. The sooner we return to the 
Father, the better it will be for us. If your father's house were 
burning, would you say: "Let us wait a while till the fire is half 
over?" No. You would try to put out the flames as quickly as 
possible and save all you could. To give the flames more headway 
might mean the loss of the entire house. If you were sick and the 
doctor told you to take your medicine every two hours, would you 
take it every two weeks, or two months? You would not. You 



FREQUENT HOLY COMMUNION 



29 



know your health is at stake. That medicine is to check your sick- 
ness. Unless it is taken as often as the doctor orders you to take 
it, your sickness would get the better of you easily, and, after 
it has gained headway, the strongest medicine might be unable to 
check it. It would then be only a question of days for the end to 
come. Your soul is exposed to as many and more dangers than 
your body. The soul has its ailments, its suffering and sickness as 
well as the body. Hence we mxust take the same precaution for 
the ailments of the soul that we have for those of the body. Nay, 
more ; for, as the soul is of more importance than our body, it stands 
to reason that we must exercise more care in behalf of our soul 
than in behalf of any bodily infirmity. 

Prevention, they say, is half the cure. It is far more easy to 
prevent sickness than to cure it after the symptoms have become 
alarming. The same rule holds good regarding the infirmities of 
the soul. And this very principle of prevention is the fundamental 
reason for frequent holy Communion. 

What care will be taken to prevent sickness? We will avoid 
places where any so-called catching sickness prevails. We make use 
of vaccination and disinfectants to remove all danger of contracting 
a like sickness. We are told to beware of ice water when we are 
overheated. 

We can, in like manner, prevent many infirmities and ailments 
of the soul that in course of time might be difficult to check. And 
the means of preventing these sicknesses of the soul is frequent holy 
CommuniorL 

All of us are tempted in the most vulnerable spot. The devil, like 
a prudent general, will never attack us where we are best prepared 
or fortified to the best advantage ; but where an attack is most likely 
to prove disastrous to us, there the battle will be raging without 



30 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



mercy or quarter. As there are no two leaves alike on a tree, so 
each one of us has his own disposition, strong points and weak 
points, each one has a peculiar inclination and failing. The devil 
has made a study of each one of us. Hence all his attacks will be 
directed against the point that is least able to resist. To strengthen 
those weak spots against the attacks of the devil we have one 
remedy: frequent holy Communion. Your most violent tempta- 
tions may be against holy purity, the virtue of faith, may be of 
pride, of revenge. The very fact that you have yielded to a certain 
temptation for a number of times is proof that the devil not only 
knows your weak spot, but that he makes very good use of his knowl- 
edge by causing you to fall time and again. Unless we are willing 
to let the devil win one point after another, we must try to stop 
him; must make the very points he attacks so strong that he will 
never defeat us again. Of our own power we are unable to resist 
him. We must have recourse to Jesus in frequent holy Communion. 
There can be no doubt about the outcome of the conflict when we 
have Jesus fighting with us. And so holy Communion is like a 
medicine that must be taken frequently and regularly. 

But why should we wait at all until the devil has shown us to 
our regret at which point we are weakest? Would it not be 
more prudent to make use of prevention than of cure? Prevention 
is much more easy and certain. Hence it follows that we should 
receive holy Communion frequently to prevent us from showing 
the devil our weak side. Frequent holy Communion will lessen 
the inclination towards evil and make us stronger at the very point 
the devil selects for his attack. 

From this, then, you will understand how necessary frequent holy 
Communion is to wage the warfare against the devil successfully. 
He dreads nothing more than frequent holy Communion, because 



FREQUENT HOLY COMMUNION 



31 



he realizes that with it his power for evil is broken. For that very 
reason he wages a relentless warfare against it. The most treacher=- 
ous objection the devil has against frequent holy Communion is to 
make us content with what little good we may do. He calls our 
attention to others who, he says, are not half as good as we are; 
that we are good enough to satisfy ourselves, and that "we should 
let well enough alone." Such are the suggestions of the devil. 

On the other hand, Christ says this : "Be you perfect because your 
Father in heaven is perfect." And, again, He says two words full 
of meaning : "Follow Me !" Jesus, the most holy, the most innocent, 
the spotless Lamb of God, asks us to follow Him ! He holds up to us 
His sinless life and asks us to imitate it. Does that mean that we 
are good enough at the present time ? That we have no more faults 
to overcome? That we need practise no more virtues? Even 
though we be just, the Holy Ghost admonishes us to become still 
more just. If we have reached holiness, there are degrees in that 
as there are degrees in heat and cold. We may and we should be 
still more holy. 

Who, then, do you think should be believed? Should we believe 
God, who, in His boundless wisdom, wants us to become more per- 
fect from day to day, or the devil, who would make us think we are 
as good and even better than we might be ? 

There is, indeed, a reason for frequent holy Communion. With- 
out it there can be no true holiness. Our dear Saviour, wishing us 
to be just and holy, wishes us to receive holy Communion frequently. 
His Church, in carrying out this sublime mission, employs, I might 
say, numberless means to gain this purpose. There is hardly a 
month passing by but one of its thirty days is some feast day. Each 
age, sex and station of life has at its disposal a number of devo- 
tions best suited to their various demands. There are the six Sun- 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



days in honor of St. Aloysius, the devotions to St. Stanislaus Kostka, 
the nine Fridays, and many similar feast days. You may make 
novenas for some certain grace, then there are retreats, missions, 
Forty Hours, and many other devotions. All these devotions and 
pious exercises have some object. Each and every one of them 
points to the very center and core of our holy faith, Jesus in the 
Tabernacle. 

Remove the altars, and we are without priesthood and sacrifice. 
Without them we would be as helpless as are Jews and Protestants, 
whose churches, so-called, have two features : a grand organ and the 
facility of turning the church into a concert hall or a moving-picture 
show. It is by virtue of Christ Jesus upon our altars that the Church 
is what it is — the Ark of the New Covenant, leading God's chosen 
people to victory over death and sin. Hence the many feasts, de- 
votions and holy practises of the Church are as many invitations to 
receive holy Communion more frequently. 

Our divine Saviour has prepared a banquet for our souls. The 
honor of attending it is so great, our unworthiness so abject, that, 
unless the invitations were tendered in the spirit of the undying love 
of God, we should hardly dare to approach this feast of the soul. 
The love of Jesus, however, makes us bold; we accept His invita- 
tion whilst He in His unbounded love makes up for our many short- 
comings by healing and strengthening our souls. 

It may practically be out of the question for most of you to 
receive holy Communion every day. But I do not know of any of 
you who could not be at the altar-railing every Sunday morning, 
provided you were willing to make a little sacrifice. 

I had the happiness of knowing a doctor who made it his rule to 
receive holy Communion as often as he had to perform an operation. 
Since he was very, very successful, he had to perform from three to 



FREQUENT HOLY COMMUNION 



33 



five each week. This saintly doctor is now dead. For some months 
before his death he knew there was no hope of his ever being well 
again. From that time on he was preparing himself for death by 
receiving holy Communion every morning. His death was as saintly 
and edifying as was his life. 

We have thermometers to know the degrees of heat and cold. If 
we wish to know whether our faith is dead in us or living, whether 
it ails from worldliness or enjoys the health of grace and love of 
God, we have only to ask the number of times w^e receive holy 
Communion, Its frequency will be a sign of fervor and zeal. 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



VI . Piety 

My dear boys: If I were asked which virtue, apart from the 
virtue of purity, I consider the grandest virtue of a boy, I should 
answer without hesitating : the virtue of piety. 

The boy saying his daily prayers is a little hero. This does not 
mean that the virtue of piety is so very difficult to practise or still 
more hard to acquire, but that somehow or other it has become a 
rarity with most boys. When you were still going to school, prayer 
and work were inseparable. You prayed before you began your 
recitations, you prayed when the work of the day was done. You 
prayed the Angelus, and recited some short prayer before and after 
each recreation. That was training you to be always ready and 
willing to raise up your hearts and minds to God. After you 
left school you took up other work in a shop or factory. There is 
no prayer said there. Instead of prayers you may have heard curs- 
ing. In course of time, being exposed to so many temptations, you 
may even have forgotten the prayers at the beginning and end of the 
day. 

It was easy for every one of you during your time of school to 
think of God and to pray. You took pleasure in it. Now it is the 
hardest task for many of you to give to God five minutes of each 
day ! In the morning they must stay in bed till the last minute, then 
rush for their breakfast, and then to work. At night they come 
home from work, read or visit, or go to some entertainment or party. 



PIETY 



35 



They come home late, but tired, and fall asleep without as much as 
even saying "good night" to God. 

All of which goes to show that the boy who says his daily prayers 
is worthy of praise. 

If our school had only accomplished the one result of making you 
resemble tubes filled with so much per cent, of arithmetic, so much 
per cent, of history, grammar, geography and the like, our aim 
would have been a vain one. The only object of the school is to 
teach you to train yourselves to round out and perfect your lives ac- 
cording to the holy will of God. The frequent prayers in our schools 
are intended to train you to say your prayers in future. 

You would never think of playing a game of ball, the outcome of 
which would mean a great deal for you, without practising for days 
and days before the game was to take place! You would say you 
could not be in a game like that without training. If training is so 
necessary for a game of ball, how much more will it be necessary 
for the important works of life? For these, too, you must train, 
Now, prayer is necessary. You began training in prayer when 3'OU 
went to school. Keep up this training and say your prayers every 
day. 

I think the world of a boy saying his daily prayers. He may have 
his faults like the rest; where others will get deeper into them, he 
will try to get away from them. Not only will his daily prayers 
keep him from a great many pitfalls, they will, moreover, help him 
to cultivate many virtues. Piety is never isolated from other virtues. 
Wherever you will find solid piety you will find other virtues 
as well. 

Some boys have a vague idea of the importance and necessity of 
prayer, thinking that it is necessary for some and optional for others. 
And, not to be either too lax or too severe, they consider piety much 



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like their Sunday clothes : you wear your Sunday clothes when you 
wish to be at your best. Then you brush them and lay them aside 
for the following Sunday. That is exactly what some boys do with 
their prayers. During the week they act like pagans. Sundays they 
say a few prayers, thinking that will do for the rest of the week ! 

And yet, there is nothing more necessary than daily prayers. 
Prayer is as necessary for our soul as breathing is for our body. 
Could we keep alive if we stopped breathing? We could not. We 
must fill our lungs with fresh air day and night. In like manner we 
must fill our soul with graces. Breathing, as long as we are sound 
and healthy, comes natural to us. We breathe without being 
conscious of it. We never for a moment stop breathing in our sleep. 
In like manner prayer should be natural for us. It should cause us 
no effort to pray. When breathing becomes painful to us, we know 
there is something wrong with us, and we call for a doctor at once. 
When prayer becomes painful to us, it is a sign that our soul is sick, 
and it, too, should have the advice of the doctor of souls, the priest. 

We can scarcely turn a page of the Holy Bible but we find some 
remark about the necessity of prayer. Our dear Lord, as a rule, 
never repeated an instruction. But three words He repeated ever 
so often : 'Watch and pray \" We need graces every minute of our 
lives. For that reason we should pray and pray. 

Our whole life, then, should be a constant prayer. While there 
are certain times each day, at morning and at night, when we should 
raise up our hearts and minds to God in a special way; it should 
be equally as easy for us to think of God at all times of the day. 
At the least sign of danger a small child will run into the arms of its 
father or mother. So we, too, should seek shelter in the arms of our 
heavenly Father at the least sign of danger of sin. 

Our morning and night prayers should help us to think of God 



PtBTY 



%1 



frequently during the day. Hence there can be no reasonable excuse 
for falling short in this most sacred duty. A great many boys will 
say some kind of a night prayer. At night, they are all alone with 
God, and they have some blemish upon their soul that makes them 
fear for the night. With the dawn of day that fear passes. The 
rest of the household are up, and they forget that the same God is 
still alive. Now, there is no excuse for neglecting your morning 
prayers. 

If, for some reason, you may not have the time to kneel down for 
five minutes, say your prayers on your way to work, it will be far 
better to pray on the way to work than to spend that much time in 
sinful talk. I knew a student who said the Rosary daily going to 
college. Swinging his books in his right hand, he had the left in his 
pocket holding the beads. No one ever suspected that this boy that 
otherwise could be in all kinds of innocent mischief, would be so fond 
of saying the Rosary. 

The boy who says his daily prayers, and says them well, will in 
the course of his life be tempted as much and, perhaps, more than 
another. But because of his prayers he will receive more graces and, 
like Joseph of Egypt, he will in time of temptation think of God 
where others are simply overwhelmed and overcome. 

Because prayer is so important, God is willing to offer us some in- 
ducement besides the many favors and graces coming to us through 
prayer. God is more anxious to have us pray and to listen to our 
prayers than we can ever be to receive a favor. Hence, we should 
be more zealous for a life of prayer. 

Have you ever considered that the company we keep leaves a 
mark upon our character? We may admit it, or laugh it off: the 
people with whom we associate will influence our thoughts, words 
and actions. We adopt the favorite sayings, words and phrases of 



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our friends, whether for good or evil; we follow their actions, and 
actions speak louder than words. For that reason Holy Writ says : 
*Tell me with whom thou goest, and I will tell thee who thou art !" 
Every language voices the same sentiment. So our language has this 
old saying: "Birds of a feather flock together." 

Company, whether good or bad, wields a powerful influence over 
us. And now, let me ask you, what better company could we have 
than God ? 

By praying we are in God's company! It is natural for us to 
assume the ways, manners, thoughts, tastes, ideals, feelings and de- 
sires of those in whose company we are, and can v/e do better or 
spend our time more profitably than by remaining in the company of 
God as long as it is possible for us to do so? Whose thoughts and 
, desires can be purer or holier than those of God ? And these very 
divine thoughts and desires, if we keep company with God in prayer, 
will gradually become our own. 

We have been told so often that the sinful world and God can 
never agree ; that what God likes the world dislikes, that what God 
commands the world will laugh at as folly. This warfare has been 
carried right into our very hearts, and, if we prefer the company 
of the world to the company of God, we shall feel like siding with 
the world. We imagine that the holy Will of God is very, very diffi- 
cult to follow ; we imagine that what the world can offer us is far 
greater than anything in the power of God. We look up at the ex- 
amples of the saints, and we find the very opposite. The ways of the 
world were not theirs. They saw things in an entirely different 
light. The world had no inducements for them. Its pleasures, its 
honors, amounted to nothing in their sight. They simply saw things 
from the standpoint of God. They hated iniquity and loved justice, 
because God hates iniquity and loves justice. The saints, because 



PIETY 



39 



they loved prayer, kept God company and for that reason gradually 
began to think as God thinks, loving what He loves, and hating 
what He hates. 

Believe me, we would look at things in an entirely different light 
if we prayed more often. We do not pray often enough and not 
well enough to make the effects of the company we keep with God 
more telling. Like the saints, we could not help seeing things the 
way God sees them if we were more desirous of keeping Him com- 
pany in prayer. The saints kept God company by their prayers. 
We not only can, but should, follow their example. The company of 
God will mold our character as it has molded and elevated the hearts 
and minds of the saints. 

I cannot think of closing this conference on piety without telling 
you of a deathbed scene it was my blessing to witness. When I was 
a student at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md., I had the happi- 
ness of knowing a saintly young man, a fellow student. It had been 
decreed in the divine Providence that this young man should die 
before he could realize the supreme happiness of standing at the 
altar of God. When this young man fought with death he thought 
of nothing else than prayer. Oftentimes, it is true, his prayers were 
confused ; he would recite part of a litany, and end with a song in 
honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary or of the Most Blessed Sacrament. 
But pray he would. When people are in delirium, they will usually 
speak of what is uppermost in their mind during their time of health. 
Some will talk of their business, others of their troubles, their likes 
and dislikes. Think of what a saintly disposition this young man 
must have cultivated throughout his life, how he must have prayed 
day after day so that in his suffering he forgot home, pain, study, 
friends and all that the world holds in store for us — simply praying, 
praying. A few minutes before his death he regained consciousness 



40 



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long enough to ask to be excused from taking any more medicine. 
"I want to die. And please, bury me in cassock and surplice." After 
another pause, he said : ^Tray for me !" His mind began to wander 
again. He started to sing the "Ave Maria Stella." Before he could 
finish the second verse of that song in honor of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary he had passed away. 

I only hope, my dear boys, that your death and mine may be as 
happy as was his. It will be if we learn to pray as fervently as he 
prayed. Throughout your whole life take care of your daily prayers. 
Daily prayers will take care of you when you come to die. 



VOCATION— ITS MEANING 



41 



VII. Vocation. — Its Meaning 

My dear boys: From the smallest flower up to the tallest tree, 
from the tiniest animal up to the circus elephant, from the kernel 
of sand up to the highest mountain crowned with clouds and snow, 
from a drop of water up to the wide ocean, everything has been made 
for some certain object or purpose. God has pointed out some 
certain work for all things He made. Moreover, all things are made 
so harmoniously, and all things are so fitting, that the whole of 
creation is like a giant clock. The sun, for instance, is so perfect, 
the trip of our earth so exact, that our many watches and clocks are 
regulated according to the revolutions of the earth on her own axis 
and her revolution around the sun. 

In this wonderful plan of God man is not to be a spectator. 
He, too, has been assigned his place and work. Nor need we be sur- 
prised at this plan of God. We could hardly think that the God who 
made the smallest insect live for some purpose would overlook His 
most perfect piece of work, namely, man, and permit him to be with- 
out aim or purpose. If God had some purpose in view when He 
created the little worm. He must have had a purpose in mind when 
He made man to His own image and likeness. If God has a task for 
the little worm, will He not have an even greater task for man? 
Each one of us, then, has been given a certain life-work. Either we 
must perform it well, or, failing, face the consequences. Nor can we 
hire a substitute to do our share of the work, like men who shrink 
from going to war. The talents God has given us we cannot give to 



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another. Each one of us is held responsible for the talents he has 
received. 

We ma}^, for the time being, feel elated over the honor God has 
bestowed upon us by taking us to assist Him in carrying out His 
aims ; the responsibility, however, is equally grave ; so grave, in fact, 
that, unless it were for the sustaining power of His Love and Mercy, 
we should feel crushed to the ground. 

From all eternity God has known us. He has designed and set 
aside for us a certain set of graces and talents to fit us for the work 
He has intended for us. And then, when in His all-wise Judgment 
the time had come for our entrance into this world, He shaped con- 
ditions and circumstances that, with the graces and talents intended 
for us, we might perform our life-work faithfully and gain heaven. 

One day our dear Saviour said to the Apostles: '^ou have not 
chosen me, but I have chosen you." The Apostles, it is true, fol- 
low^ed our Lord and Saviour freely and gladly; yet they could not 
have followed Him unless they had been asked to follow Him. That 
gives you the true meaning of "vocation." The word itself is taken 
from the Latin, and means '^to call." Your parents may call you 
from your play or favorite work and ask you to do something for 
them that may not be as agreeable as the work or play you leave at 
their call. If anyone else would have called you, you would have 
reasons to ignore him. But since your parents call for you, you 
know you should obey. Your very obedience may mean a sacrifice 
on your part ; still, you never think of refusing, because your parents 
have a right to ask services of you that others have not. 

So God calls every one of us for some certain work. Since He is 
our Creator, He has a claim upon our obedience. Since the plan He 
has in view with us is the most perfect that divine Wisdom, could 
shape for us, the life-work He has decided for us is more fitted for 



VOCATION—ITS MEANING 



43 



our capacity and better adapted to our needs and desires than any 
other we might choose for ourselves. 

God wants some of you to be plain, every day working men; 
others of you He will want to see in stores, shops or factories ; some 
He will want to see in offices ; some He may want to see earn their 
bread as lawyers, doctors, or priests ; some of you He may want to 
see in a convent or monastery. All we can do is to be prepared for 
whatever work God assigns to us and, like young Samuel, say: 
"Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth !" 

We consider the days of childhood the happiest of our Hfe. Did 
you ever think why? These were days free from all care and 
worry. What little sorrows and troubles you did have were like 
sun showers. Before the tears were dry on your little cheeks, laugh- 
ter over something else made you forget them. These days, however, 
are no more. Life, a severe master, stands before you now ; and he 
demands work, work, work. 

You see your fathers going to work every morning. It may be 
hot or cold, the sun may shine and invite them to take a day off and 
rest, it may rain or snow so that one would hardly want to send a 
dog away from home, your father may feel as though he should spare 
himself, or feel hardly able to work ; but you see him going to work 
without saying a single word of ill will. Time was when your 
father was a boy of your age ; time was when he was free of care 
and sorrow; time was when he had to follow the call of God to 
work and in a spirit of obedience to that call of God, that vocation, 
you see him working every day. Now it is your turn to follow the 
call of God and do the work He has decided for you. 

Doubtless, you have asked yourself this question more than once. 
I hope you have. 

A hint of your calling may have been revealed when, in play, you 



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imitated the work and actions of grown people. Some children, in 
playing, act like teachers, others as musicians, others as doctors, 
others show wonderful preference for some tools, like hammers, 
saws, or lathes; others imitate the priest, climbing upon a chair 
and speaking to an imaginary audience. Now, this favoring of 
some object or other, which to some extent seems almost instinctive, 
will very frequently indicate the direction in which the future voca- 
tion will have to be found. From my own experience, I might say 
that playing priest was one of my great hobbies when I was a little 
boy. 

Each one of us is in duty bound to ask himself: "What is my 
vocation ?" It is not the question of doing some work on earth, but 
doing the work God has intended for us. If the choice depended 
upon us, we might make dreadful blunders. 

In most European countries the young men, as soon as they have 
reached the age of twenty-one years, must appear before the military 
authorities to be examined by them. From that time on until they 
are discharged they must serve in the army or navy, as the authori- 
ties see fit. Some of these young men are assigned to the cavalry, 
others to the artillery, others to the infantry, others to the navy. Some 
are assigned to the commissary, some to the engineering, and some to 
the hospital department of the service. The peculiar fitness of each 
one is considered before a choice is made. As for himself, the young 
man has little chance in determining to what branch of the military 
organization he would like to belong. His capacity and fitness de- 
cide for him. One might be an excellent sailor, but a very poor 
horse man ; another might be a poor man for infantry, yet a wonder 
of bravery with the artillery branch of the army, and so on. Still, 
there is another reason for assigning each one to some special post. 
At the head of the army there is a leading staff, defining exactly 



VOCATION— ITS MEANING 



45 



how strong the infantry, cavalry and artillery must be. It would be 
poor policy to let one branch expand at the expense of another. Each 
one of them must be calculated to effect the various plans of 
attack and defense that may become necessary. This subtle balance 
of power and strength might be lost if each young man could join 
the branch he prefers. In time of war that mistake might be fatal 
for the welfare of the entire country. Almighty God, foreseeing 
what chaos would result if each man could do as he pleased, has 
wisely assigned to each of us a certain post of duty along the line of 
our fitness, that all work on earth might be carried on to the best ad- 
vantage. It is His holy will that all trades and professions should 
be filled so exactly as not to destroy that balance of strength and 
power that is so necessary for peace and happiness of the world. 

Paradise would, to some extent, be restored this very day if every 
one of us would try to do the work God had intended. But we 
find people trying to fit square pegs into round holes, or fitting round 
pegs into square holes. Our temporal as well as our eternal happi- 
ness depends upon our conformity with the holy Will of God. And 
why do we see so much misery, misfortune, so many tears and sor- 
rows in this world ? Why are there so many failures and disappoint- 
ments in life ? Simply because so many people will enter upon voca- 
tions for which they are neither called nor fitted. They act contrary 
to the plans of all-wise God. It does make a great difference all 
around whether we obey the holy Will of God, or whether we only 
seek to please our own whims and fancies. God is by no means 
indifferent or careless about whether we serve Him or not. If we 
obey Him, so much the better for us ; if we fail, we must suffer the 
consequences. With these thoughts impressed upon your minds, you 
will understand the importance of making the proper choice in 
matters of vocation. Your choice will spell happiness or failure for 



46 



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the rest of your life. Nay, more ; it may mean heaven or hell here- 
after. God has shaped and arranged the graces to the calling or 
vocation assigned to us. Hence, if one dares assume a vocation for 
which God did not intend him, he will find himself short of the 
graces proper to that very calling. The graces and talents he has are 
not adapted to the calling. You certainly would not want to lead a 
life of misery and disappointment if it were in your power to choose 
success and happiness. As for myself, I desire nothing more than 
your temporal and eternal welfare. For that reason, I will tell you 
how to go about it that you may make a happy choice, that you may 
find out and follow the vocation and do the task God has given you 
to do. 

The very first and most important means of learning what God 
wants us to do is prayer. Pray earnestly, especially after each holy 
Communion, that God may give you His holy Light to see the way. 
Never for a moment think that, because in all probability, your life- 
work will be that of the ordinary, every-day working man, you need 
not exercise as much care as though you were to decide about a 
higher calling. In the sight of God every work is important and 
holy, provided it is performed in a holy manner. I remember having 
seen three stained glass windows in a church. The first showed 
St. Isidore, the farmer; another, St. Margareth, queen of Scotland; 
and the third, St. Wendelin, the shepherd boy. Here are three 
saints, two of whom were very poor and plain people. Their 
vocation was a very low and common one, as the world would judge ; 
yet, in the sight of God, they are on an equal footing with saintly 
kings and queens. No vocation and no work is to be despised. No 
matter, then, what your vocation may be, whether it be of the lowly 
or of the very highest, pray and pray fervently. After you have 
prayed, take a mental inventory of yourself, compare the various 



VOCATION—ITS MEANING 



47 



callings about which you may wish to decide with the talents and 
gifts you find in yourself. You may even consult your very first 
impulses, your earliest games or playthings. Ask yourself calmly 
in which state you would wish to die. That state will, in all proba- 
bility, be the state in which you should spend your life. 

Secondly, you should consult your parents. Their experience as 
well as their good will towards you will usually prompt them to give 
you the best advice, help and encouragement. If, however, you have 
arrived at some definite conclusion; if, before God, you think you 
have decided rightly and for some unaccountable reason your parents 
should try to talk you out of it, remember : we must obey God more 
than man ! For some reason parents will, at times, show opposition 
when a child of theirs wishes to enter a convent or become a priest. 
If you are hampered in this manner, be willing that the holy Will of 
God be carried out on earth as it is in heaven. Many are the saints 
who suffered under the very same difficulty. There is still another 
whom, at times, you may overlook or forget. This man is your most 
intimate friend, a friend who knows you better than you do your- 
selves ; a friend who will be truthful and candid ; a friend who may 
not always tell you what you like to hear, but what will be of benefit 
to you. His judgment is the result of years of study, observation and 
thorough knowledge of the human heart. Hence, his judgment will 
be true and impartial. And this friend is the priest to whom you go 
to Confession. If you are wise, you will pick out some certain priest 
to whom you take a particular liking, and always go to Confession 
to him. In a very short time he will be able to advise you in the most 
important matters. Ask the advice of your confessor. If you have 
made a choice, he will be able to tell you whether your choice was a 
prudent one ; if you are undecided, he will be able to guide you where 
without his helping hand you would be sure to stumble. 



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Outside of the religious, the clergy and a few chosen saintly souls 
in the world, the importance of the judgment of a confessor is hardly 
appreciated as it should be. Yet the saints have at all times con- 
sidered the decisions of their confessors as the holy Will of God. 
At times God lets people know by means of miracles what He wants 
them to do, as, for example, in the conversion of St. Paul. As a 
rule, however, God makes use of natural means to let us know our 
calling. And one of the most important means of letting us know 
His holy Will is the confessor. Hence the voice of the confessor is 
the voice of God. 

You may search the whole world and you will not find a single 
sister, or monk, or priest who have embraced their vocation to please 
themselves only. If you could look into the life of a religious or a 
priest you would be more than surprised at the many prayers they 
said, the holy Communions they received to learn their vocation. 
And you will find that they humbly asked the advice of their con- 
fessors. Only then, when he gave his consent, and not before, did 
they make up their minds to take that important step. 

People, as a rule, would meet with much more success, even in 
temporal matters, if they would treat their confessors as their per- 
sonal and most intimate friends, asking their advice and following 
their judgment and ripe experience. 



VOCATION— PRUDENCE IN CHOOSING 



49 



VIII. Vocation. — Prudence in Choosing 

My dear boys : The question of a vocation may be ever so serious 
with some well-meaning boys — there are as many, if not more — with 
whom it means the solution of one only question: "What is there 
in it for me ?" Little do they care for the holy will of God in their 
behalf. The very calling God may have determined for them is 
disregarded because they do not find enough honors, or money, or 
pleasures in it to suit their v^ants or tastes. 

If vocation meant nothing else than so many dollars and cents, 
the question could easily be settled by looking up the earnings of 
the various vocations and picking out the one by which we can get 
the most money in the easiest manner. If, for example, the most 
money could be made by running railways, and you, and I, and all 
the rest had their own railroads, where could we get the people from 
to travel on our roads ? 

If vocation meant nothing else than getting all the honors that 
are within reach, we would all of us have to go into the king 
business or become great presidents. Even then it would be doubt- 
ful whether we could enjoy all the honors we would crave. But 
supposing each one could be a king, or president, or emperor, who 
would there be left to give us the honors due ? 

If vocation meant nothing else than getting all the pleasures the 
world can give, we would have to strive for nothing but pleasures. 
And how could we ever make ends meet ? For the pleasure we take 
means work for many others, who in their turn would want to have 
nothing but pleasures for themselves. You see many a boat passing 
up and down the river. The decks are swarming with people who 



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ape having a good time. About twenty feet below the deck you will 
find sweating stokers working half stripped, covered with dust and 
dirt. They must feed the fires for the benefit of the excursion party. 
What pleasures have the stokers in their work ? Besides the stokers 
there are the oilers, mechanics and engineers in the engine-room, 
watching every movement of the complicated machinery. Where 
does their pleasure come in? Then there is the man at the wheel, 
the captain on his bridge. They do not leave their post for a 
moment to join in the pleasures of the passengers. To say that we 
are made for nothing else than pleasure is therefore nonsense. 

Vocation, then, means nothing else than carrying out the holy 
Will of God. The very first answer of our catechism gives us this 
much to understand. We are made to serve God in this world and 
be happy with Him in the next. To serve God as He wants us to 
serve Him, we must serve Him in the vocation He has mapped out 
for us. 

To choose the vocation in which God wants us to serve Him, and 
for which He wants to reward us, we must be guided by prudence. 
We must not ask ourselves, ^'What is there in it for me ?" but "What 
is the holy Will of God." For that reason our dear Saviour said: 
"Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven." 

Prudence, then, will demand that we please God rather than our 
fancy. You may turn and twist a compass as you like, the needle 
will point due north. Neither should the pomp and glitter of this 
world be able to turn you from your aim and purpose — the holy Will 
of God. 

In His infinite wisdom almighty God has so shaped each voca- 
tion that, besides our daily bread, it will give us some little honor or 
pleasure. God did not intend to offer us good times at little or no 
expense. He knows our weakness far better than we ourselves. 



VOCATION— PRUDENCE IN CHOOSING 



51 



And out of pure love and mercy for us He has added some little 
honor or pleasure to each calling that we might not find its burden 
and responsibilities too hard to bear. Moreover, this consolation, 
the little honor or pleasure incidental to each vocation is what the 
dessert is to the whole meal. The dessert is always the smallest 
portion of the meal. So, likewise, are the pleasures and honors of 
each calling. Again, the dessert is the last course. So, too, the little 
honors and pleasures of a calling come at the end of life — if they 
come at all. A life-work with all its efforts and trials, sorrows and 
cares must be completed before we can be given this dessert. In- 
deed, it must be appropriate, or it will not taste right. 

To choose a vocation regardless of what prudence would demand 
will mean a life of sore disappointments. 

The greedy boy, hungering for nothing but money, may notice a 
doctor. The doctor is well dressed, he makes the rounds of his 
patients in his automobile, enters the homes of the very richest, and 
has a nice home of his own. Says the boy : "I will be a doctor ; for 
a doctor has a nice life of it and makes much money." We will 
suppose the boy studies medicine, passes all his examinations, gets 
his degree, and hangs out his shingle. Will he be happy? That is 
another question. Will he be ready to go out day and night, to be at 
the beck and call of every man? Will he be ready and willing to 
tend to patients whose sickness is so loathsome that relatives and 
friends are driven from the bedside? Will he be willing to wash 
out sores and ulcers, the very sight of which tend to turn a person's 
stomach? Will he be ready to risk his life to save others? His 
reason for being a doctor was not to do good, but to make money. 
As a doctor he will be a total failure ; as a failure he will be unable 
to earn the money a doctor earns. His life is ruined and wasted. 
He could make more money digging sewers. 



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The ambitious boy will thirst for honors. He sees a priest and 
would like to receive the honor and respect shown to the priest of 
God. The ambitious boy makes up his mind to become a priest. 
Little does he know of the many daily sacrifices the priest must 
make. Like the doctor, the priest, too, must go to the sick. The 
obligation for the priest is still more binding; he must go, even 
though a doctor would have reason to stay away. The life of a 
priest is a life of self-denial, a life of the Cross. Only on the day of 
the Last Judgment will the world learn to know the sorrows, trials, 
sufferings and sacrifices that are the lot of faithful and zealous 
priests. It is not customary to dwell upon this side of the priestly 
life. Every priest, if he wanted to, could tell you that the little honor 
that is shown — and that at times so sparingly — is by no means a 
recompense for the burdens and responsibilities of the priestly 
office. If a man were to enter the priesthood with this one purpose 
of getting for himself all kinds of honors and distinctions, he would 
be the unhappiest of men. 

A shallow boy may be without enterprise or ambition. In choos- 
ing a vocation he will look for something that is unusually easy. 
The work that would suit him best would be putting his feet up on 
some table in some office, doing no work, dressing nicely, take in 
every ball game, and get immensely rich. The discoveries and in- 
ventions up to date are great and manifold. But this kind of trade 
has not been discovered as yet. Every vocation means work. When 
God told Adam that he was to eat his bread in the sweat of his 
brow, you and I were meant as well as our first parent. 

From this, then, you will understand why there is nothing more 
foolish than looking for money, honors, or good times. The boy 
who wants to follow some vocation simply for the money, honor, or 
pleasure there is in it will be sadly disappointed ; his very act shows 



VOCATION— PRUDENCE IN CHOOSING 



S3 



that he is dishonest ; he wants something to which he is not entitled. 

We call a boy a prudent boy when he reflects upon an action be- 
fore he decides; who takes all things into consideration, weighs aU 
the reasons for and against before he decides one way or another. 

Such prudence should be yours in deciding upon a vocation. A 
prudent boy will reflect long and seriously, will weigh all the reasons 
for and against the calling he has in mind, will not be dazzled by the 
bright side, nor discouraged over the hardships that follow. He will 
understand that God wants him and nobody else to do the work in- 
tended for him. Hence he will pray earnestly and receive holy 
Communion frequently ; he will consult his parents and his confessor. 
God seeing his good will, will not permit him to grope in the dark. 

If you boys choose your vocations in this manner, you cannot go 
wrong. The choice you will make will mean happiness and con- 
tentment for you. You will not take upon yourself more than you 
can bear. You will never try to raise five hundred pounds, when all 
you can lift would be one hundred; nor will you take less upon 
yourself than you can bear. If you are determined to follow out the 
holy Will of God you will not want to content yourself with only 
twenty pounds when you can carry two hundred. The burden that 
is made for your shoulders will, indeed, be heavy enough at times. 
Like Christ, you, too, will sink beneath the burden of your cross; 
but God will not forsake you ; His grace will make you strong, and 
you will find your yoke sweet and your burden light. 

In considering the advisability of this vocation or that, there is 
one point that is frequently overlooked. Prudence demands that 
this one point be seriously considered. This point, which gets no 
consideration whatever from many, is faith. 

If you determine upon a calling or a work in which you run a 
great danger of losing your holy faith, it can never be the Will of 



54 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



God that you adopt it. It is true, we can hardly go anywhere at 
the present time without being compelled to listen to foul talk, to 
talk against religion, particularly against the Catholic Church, her 
priests and her institutions. There is hardly a shop or factory but 
some big-mouthed man will be found there talking against God. To 
make up for the lack of brains, he will use that much more lung- 
power. Ordinary people, not knowing the difference, will consider 
such a man very, very smart. And yet the Holy Ghost tells us: 
'^Only the fool says within his heart there is no God." Any man 
with the least brains knows better than such an ignoramus who 
makes impertinence stand for brains. And such are only the ordi- 
nary everyday dangers to your holy faith. There are other places 
where you, as Catholics, are not even wanted. 

Now suppose you could find work in such a place, even get rich, 
prosperous, influential, what will it profit you? 

What will it profit you to gain the whole world! Look at the 
price you pay for it ! For the few years of glory in this world you 
give your immortal soul. On the one hand, there is God who wants 
your soul. Give it to Him, and He promises to give you heaven for 
it. And this heaven is everlasting. On the other hand, the world, 
too, wants your soul. It can give in return only a few pleasures, 
a little money or some honors for a short time. Even if we had the 
whole world laid at our feet, we would be cheated in giving our 
souls for it. And now think what a little slice of the world people do 
get! And for that little bit they throw their souls away! A few 
thousand dollars, a little office, is all most people get. And for that 
they give their souls away ! What would you think of your father if 
he sold his home for five cents ? You would think he was not in his 
right mind. Yet, heaven is more than your house and lot ; and what 
you get in return for heaven is not worth five cents in comparison. 



VOCATION— PRUDENCE IN CHOOSING 



55 



Never take any work that prevents you from going to holy Mass 
on Sunday. Missing holy Mass on Sunday is the first step to 
losing your holy faith. Look for such work only in which you are 
at liberty to have the Sunday for yourself. If you must leave home 
to work in another city, be sure there is a Catholic church there, 
and let your first walk be to the priest house after you have paid 
your respects to our dear Saviour in the Tabernacle. Introduce 
yourself to the pastor of that church. No matter who he may be, 
he will respect you all the more for it. If the little town or city in 
which you would want to work has no church, my advice will be to 
keep out of it. In the first place, I doubt whether you will find one 
good Catholic family in that whole town. Instead you will find a 
number of indifferent Catholics, whose lives may not be as edifying 
as you might wish for. Those not of our holy faith that you will 
find in that town may be exemplary people in their way. Un- 
fortunately, this may not prevent them from having deep-rooted 
prejudice against you for the reason that you are a Catholic. To 
keep up your holy faith in such a surrounding is very, very hard. 
For many it is impossible ; you may be of that number. For your 
own peace of mind it will be advisable to stay away from such places. 

It may be that, by following out these rules, you will lose money, 
that you will be obliged to let great opportunities slip by, lose them 
for the sake of your holy faith ! God is rich enough to pay you back 
to cover the loss. Think of the great sacrifices others have made 
for the same holy faith you call your own ! What are a few dollars 
in comparison to the lives that martyrs have given for our holy faith. 
Life was as dear to them as ours is to us. 

If we thought less of dollars and cents and more of faith, we 
would spare ourselves many troubles and gather more rewards for 
the life to come. 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



You face the future, expecting success and happiness. Exercise 
prudence that you may select the calUng for which God has in- 
tended you. It will pay you to consider the obligations of your holy 
faith. Faith will show you the way. Faith will tell you that you 
should not be misguided by the glitter of this world, that you are 
not created for money, or honor, or pleasure, but to serve God and 
be happy with Him for ever. 



VOCATION— NECESSITY OF PERSEVERANCE 



57 



IX. Vocation. — Necessity of Perseverance 

My dear boys : Along the banks of rivers you will, at times, see 
the empty hulls of ships. These ships stranded. Whatever was of 
value — machinery, furniture, freight, and the like — was taken out 
and the empty hull is left to rot on the banks. Had it not been for 
some accident, that now rotten hull would even to-day be a noble ship 
sailing on the lakes. It stranded, and there it is ! 

Many a life resembles such an empty, rotten hull. 

Something went wrong, and the life is wasted. I cannot better 
explain this sad failure of life than by giving you a real example of 
a life gone wrong. 

A short time ago a young man entered an engraver's shop to 
learn the trade. As, perhaps, you know, this work pays well after 
one has learned it thoroughly. The work, too, is difficult. One must 
be able to write and draw beautifully with pen and ink. It requires 
about four years to learn the trade. During that time the wages are 
very, very little. However, after one has mastered the trade, the 
wages are better than those of many other trades. 

Well, this boy had been with a firm of engravers for three years. 
One day a friend came to the boy^ and asked him what wages he 
earned. He was almost ashamed to tell he got about two dollars a 
week. "Why, you foolish boy !" the other said. ^'Why don't you come 
with me and learn the cutters' trade ! It takes you only a month to 
learn that trade, and from that time on you get a hundred a 
month !" That seemed very tempting to the boy. "Who will teach me 
that trade ?" the boy asked. "I will," the other young man replied. "I 



58 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



have spoken to your folks, and it will cost you only forty dollars to 
learn. And in a month's time I guarantee you will be a cutter!" 
The next day the boy gave up his work in the shop and learned 
cutting goods for clothes. At the end of the month, it is true, he 
could cut out the pattern of a suit of clothes ; but he had found no 
one for whom to cut them. All the tailors were supplied with 
cutters for years to come. He had no means to go to another city 
to try his luck. He was too proud to go back to the first shop. 
He had bragged so much about being a cutter and making so much 
more money than an engraver that he feared he would be laughed 
at did he apply again. And so it happened that the boy spent many 
an idle week. He did get some work to do during the rush of the 
season at spring and fall; but these few weeks of work could not 
tide him over the balance of the year. After nearly a year he gave 
up the idea of being a cutter and began working in a drug-store. 
All he could do there was to wash bottles and to sell hair oil 
and the like. He had neither the inclination nor the means to study 
pharmacy, and so he could never be a licensed or registered drug- 
gist. There was no future in store for him in that business unless 
he would have been content with being the head squirter at a 
soda-water fountain. Washing bottles did not pay, and so he left. 
After that we find him in the shipping department of a big factory. 
For a time he was liked, because he could print the names so per- 
fectly on the boxes and crates. But the work was not to his liking. 
Moreover, he was not able to handle the heavier freight. And so he 
left that place in the nick of time before being told to go. After 
being idle for a few more months he became a waiter in a cheap 
hotel. He was rebuked a few times by the management and guests, 
and that was the end of his hotel life. After that he tried a few 
more stores and shops. Now he is a man of thirty and he drives a 



VOCATION— NECESSITY OF PERSEVERANCE 



grocery wagon. Whether he will be able to keep this work long is 
a question. 

The life of this young man, sad as it is, is seen repeated hundreds 
and hundreds of times. His is a blasted, ruined life. How many 
boys and young men drift from factory to shop, from shop to store, 
and from store to some other factory ! And it is all done with the 
view of getting more money for less work. 

All work is hard, and all work has something about it that makes 
it, to some extent, disagreeable. Such, however, is the plan of God. 
Since the fall of Adam, work is intended as a penance for us, not a 
pleasure. In Paradise work was pleasure. Since, on account of sin, 
we are no longer in Paradise, work is penance. Such is the plan of 
an all-wise God. Bearing this in mind, you will see how utterly use- 
less it is for us to look for some work that has with it nothing but 
pleasure. The wildest dreams of socialists will never be able to 
overcome this one fact of work being a penance. Nor can we find 
happiness in anything — so far as earthly happiness goes — but in 
working according to the holy Will of God. 

In spite of the fact that our happiness lies only in the direction of 
the work designed for us by almighty God, we find so many boys 
who shirk earnest effort. They are drawn this way and that ; try this 
work, then another. In fact, they never know their own mind from 
day to day. And, as time goes on, they are nearing their twentieth 
year without knowing a trade. 

A sick man may realize that he ought to call a doctor ; but there 
are a number of friends calling upon him and each one has a favor- 
ite remedy. One neighbor will give him some tea. He drinks this 
tea. Another comes and gives him some powders. 'They did me 
so much good when I was sick, and I don't see why they shouldn't 
help you." So powders it is for a few days. Another friend comes 



6o 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



along with porous plasters. They are advertised to do wonders. And 
so the sick man drinks tea, takes powders, and has himself covered 
with porous plasters. Next day another friend comes. He makes 
him tear off his plasters, stops the tea and takes away the powders. 
He has some wonderful pills. One pill will make one feel better, a 
box makes one well, and two boxes could bring a man back from 
the grave. So it is pills for some days. Then another friend comes 
with some patent medicine. The pills are put aside and the sick 
man begins emptying a bottle of that patent medicine. By the time 
the bottle is half empty the sick man feels that unless he calls the 
doctor at once, they may have to call the undertaker instead. Had 
he followed his very first impulse and called for a doctor at once, 
he might have been quickly cured; as it is, it may now take him 
weeks and weeks before he can get well. 

The fickle-minded boy is exactly like this sick man. Instead of 
following his better judgment, he follows the advice of every Tom., 
Dick and Harry coming along. 

Indecision is a great mistake for a boy. The sooner he can make 
up his mind and decide one way or another, the better it will be for 
him. The reason is not hard to find. 

Up to a certain time of life, learning is easy. After that it grows 
harder each year. Gradually it becomes almost impossible to learn 
anything. It is generally taken for granted that the age of from 
fifteen to eighteen or nineteen is the best time to learn a trade. To 
remain undecided for even two of these important years means a 
drawback that may tell upon the rest of life. Weeks, months and 
years pass by, whether you work or not. But why should you let 
these precious years slip by? There is no reason for it. You do not 
want your lives to be failures. You must, then, make up your minds 
to do some work and persevere in it. It pays to stick to your trade. 



VOCATION—NECESSITY OF PERSEVERANCE 



6i 



To be hesitating, and doubting, and trying one work after an- 
other is a loss of time and opportunity. At your age it seems per- 
fectly natural that you should learn a trade. What would you say 
if a man of over twenty stood beside you, learning the same trade? 
The first thought that would come to your mind would be : "I won- 
der why he was so slow about it. What is the reason he could not 
learn the trade sooner !" You will have your misgivings ; so will the 
employers have their misgivings. As a rule, a man of over twenty 
trying to learn a trade will make a fizzle of it. He will not want 
to learn. 

At the age of twenty a young man will want to be somebody. He 
feels that he is too big to stand beside a mere boy to learn. It is 
a humiliation for him to have others consider a boy five years his 
junior as his equal. He will want to spend money like the young man 
who has learned a trade, will want to dress becomingly, will want to 
keep company with some young lady, as others do who have a way 
of making a living and, like the rest of them, may think very seri- 
ously about getting married. I pity the poor girl throwing her life 
away for a man who cannot support himself, much less a family. 
You may, at times, hear of how an office boy works his way up to 
Ibecome the president of the company by which he had been em- 
ployed, or of a messenger boy who worked his way up to become 
the manager of some telegraph company. No such promotions are 
in store for the Jack of all trades. 

Because some boys will switch from one work to another, trying 
this work and that, we have with us this class of unfortunate men 
whom we call Jacks of all trades. As a rule, they are masters 
of none. They know something about everything. That is exactly 
what spoils them. They would be far better off if they knew every- 
thing about something. 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



Where a carpenter, blacksmith, or engineer has steady work, the 
poor Jack of all trades hardly knows from one month to another 
where, or what, or for whom he will w^ork. 

Perseverance is called a jewel; partl}^, because it is found so 
rarely, and partly because it is so precious. Because it is so rare 
and so precious it is hard to find it. One must fight with failure to 
get this jewel of perseverance. Unless we make our failures step- 
ping-stones for success, we will never acquire perseverance. Our 
lives, without perseverance, will resemble the empty, useless hulls 
you see rotting along the shores. Unfortunately, some boys are so 
sensitive, so thin-skinned, that one single failure will be enough 
to cause them to throw ambition to the winds. 

The way to success is paved with failures. If the first failure 
had discouraged our great artists and scientists, the world would 
be centuries behind the times. Had Columbus been discouraged at 
the first failures, he would never have discovered the New World. 
He was laughed at for thinking the world was a globe. He simply 
let them laugh and persevered in his plans until he was able to show 
he was right. 

Success, when attained too easily, is not always lasting. The last- 
ing qualities of success resemble the various fruits. The fruit ripen- 
ing early in the year, like the strawberry, will not keep very long. 
The apple or pear, ripening late in the fall, will keep perfectly 
through the winter. If success comes too quickly, we have reason to 
fear that it will be short-lived. If, however, it comes to us after 
many failures and adversities, then we may have reason to hope that 
it will outlive the short span of our life. 

If, then, you wish to make a success of the calling God has de- 
signed for you, you must persevere in it. Your aim may be ever so 
lofty, your intention at the start ever so noble, yet unless you per- 



VOCATION— NECESSITY OF PERSEVERANCE 63 



severe in spite of all failures and adversities, your life will itself be a 
failure. The higher you have aimed, the greater will be your fall. 
Like countless others, you will meet with failures. Like countless 
others, you, too, must profit by your very failures, learning to do 
better with every following effort. You are bound to succeed if 
you persevere. 

It would, indeed, be a profitable undertaking for all of you if, 
instead of some useless novel, you would pick up the history of 
some great man and read that. Read the life of Columbus, Washing- 
ton, Lincoln, Garcia Moreno, Windhorst, or the life of any of the 
countless sains, if only with this one purpose in mind of studying 
how these men made failures the foundation of their imperishable 
glory. 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



X. Vocation. — Necessity of Diligence 

My dear boys : Recall for a few moments the days of school and 
try to remember how discouraged you felt when you got your first 
copy-book. You thought you could never learn to write. If, out of 
curiosity, you looked at the copy-books of an older brother or sister, 
and you discovered that their books were far more advanced than 
yours, you no doubt felt like saying: "It's no use trying; I will 
never be able to write as nicely as that." 

Now, however, as you look back to those times, you know that 
you have passed through all the various copy-books, readers, spellers, 
grammars, geographies, histories and other studies without losing 
much sleep, provided you showed ordinary diligence in yonr studies. 

To remain idle for months and then to work real hard for two or 
three days for an examination will be of little benefit to you in later 
years, even though you should be lucky enough to pass. Some of 
you may have discovered as much by this time. 

The experience of the past will teach you two lessons : First, that 
knowledge is acquired by degrees; and, secondly, that it requires 
constant diligence to transfer the knowledge from the page of the 
book to your memory and understanding. In fact, the usefulness of 
our knowledge will depend upon the degree of diligence used in 
acquiring it. For this very reason the boy, brilliant in school, will 
frequently be a failure in later years. The other boy who, perhaps, 
never received the highest note, will often excel the brilliant boy in 
later years in true worth and capability. The reason is not hard to 



VOCATION— NECESSITY OF DILIGENCE 



65 



find. While the brilliant boy will be inclined to indolence because 
study does not cost him much effort, the other boy, less talented, has 
becomiC accustomed to earnest effort, since he had to work hard to 
keep up with his class. The one boy thinks he knows it all, and there- 
fore need not try hard ; the other boy, knowing his weakness, real- 
izes that he must exercise his memory and understanding to grasp a 
lesson. The result is that he will often excel the brilliant boy in 
actual achievements. 

Now, the same methods of acquiring our school learning holds 
good for the learning of a trade or profession. Our whole life 
is but a school. About the only difference is that, in later years, 
vacations do not come as regularly as they did when we were boys. 

Never be foolish enough to think that with the last day of school 
your study is finished. Then it is that it really begins. During your 
years of school you laid the foundation of your learning. You can 
not build a church on a foundation intended for a small cottage. 
Hence the importance of laying a good foundation while at school. 

To make your life-work a success, it will not be enough to simply 
persevere in it in a careless sort of way. To do any kind of work in 
a slipshod manner will not be much of a credit to you. You must 
be diligent in your work ; as busy as a little bee. Working without 
diligence means work only half done. If you see a tree with little 
and stunted fruit, you do not think much of the tree. What would 
you say of a man who turns out work in a careless sort of way, 
never caring how it looks, how or when it is done, just so it is done 
some time and somehow ! You would say : "Why, that man isn't 
worth much." 

A great musician, when complimented upon his wonderful skill, 
answered: "Oh, that is nothing at all. Anybody can do as well." 
One of the bystanders then asked : "Do you mean to say that any- 



66 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



body could play as perfectly as you?" "Certainly," the artist re- 
plied, "three things alone are needed. The first is study, the second 
is study, and the third is, again, study." 

If you had practised writing only once a month, you would have 
never become able to write. You filled copy-books one after an- 
other; you used up reams of writing-paper; you wrote day after 
day. Now it has become easy for you to put your thoughts upon 
paper. In like manner you cannot expect to become perfect in any 
trade or profession unless you work diligently. 

A plow permitted to remain idle will soon be rusty. But one in 
active use will soon shine like silver. Such is the effect of diligence 
upon all things. Diligence is necessary for our own well-being. 
What would become of us unless we were diligent in our bodily 
exercises? If we stopped taking our regular exercises our muscles 
would become flabby and soft, the blood weak and poor. The 
shortest walk would seem tiresome, or even impossible to undertake. 
Exercise makes walking easy. Why, you could not think of playing 
ball unless you practised throwing, catching and batting, and prac- 
tised hard at that. You had to train your memory that it might retain 
what once you have learned ; you must train your will power, your 
understanding, to have them work properly. And all that means 
nothing else but diligence. Unless we keep our mind occupied we 
grow dull ; unless we give our body constant exercise, strength will 
leave us as water is lost in sand. Diligence, then, is so plain a duty, 
it seems strange our attention should have to be called to it at all. 
Yet, because diligence is a duty, it grinds. Say what you will, we 
live in a superficial age. To counteract this we must be indefatigable 
in insisting upon diligence. 

Men are inclined to be shifty. Consult your own inclination in 
proof of it. Do you not continually look for that which is easiest? 



VOCATION— NECESSITY OF DILIGENCE 



67 



for that which requires httle effort on your part ? Even a game or 
play requiring much thought or effort will be avoided. 

Since you notice an inclination to look for the easiest work, fearing 
that an effort on your part would be too much of a strain, you had 
better be on your guard against laziness. Unless you become pains- 
taking and diligent in your work, you will be a failure for life. Did 
you ever notice a juggler on the stage how he can throw and catch 
four or more balls with one hand ? It does look easy, until you try 
it! It took this juggler years before he could do this trick well 
enough to show it on a stage. No matter how plain or simple a 
work may seem to be, it requires effort to do it well. Tennyson was 
asked one day how long it took him to compose a short poem. Its 
words were so plain and simple that one would think they were 
written as fast as a pen could go across paper. Tennyson smiled 
and said: "These four lines took me two boxes of cigars to make 
them as they are." It took him weeks to write these four lines. 
They were written and re-written, changed and corrected, until they 
were perfect. Genius does not mean a very bright mind, but the 
capacity for infinite work and painstaking. 

Trades and professions are overcrowded. Still, there is always 
room at the top. Diligent and reliable workers are few and far be- 
tween. There is an old saying: *Tractice makes perfect." Those 
perfect in their trades or professions are very few in number. The 
world expects diligence of us; the standards of workmanship are 
high in every calling. No one will be willing to pay a first-class 
price for a third or fourth-class piece of work. Our work must be 
first-class, or we cannot expect a first-class price for it. 

The mechanic who turns out poor work at a price for which one 
expects good work, will lose his trade. You see, then, how it hap- 
pens that while some business men keep their customers, others lose 



68 CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 

theirs. Diligence is the word that explains it all. A hired man may 
have all the good points but diligence; he may be sober, good- 
natured, quiet; he may have all the good points of not smoking, 
drinking, chewing, cursing, or gambling; but if he is lazy all these 
good points will be of little help. They will not be able to hold his 
position for him. No employer can use a lazy man. To illustrate the 
advantage of diligence from another point, let us suppose your 
father is a carpenter who knows his trade from A to Z. His em- 
ployer places all his confidence in your father. He lets him work as 
he knows best. He does not need to watch your father, as others 
must be watched, for he knows your father is diligent and con- 
scientious. He will put your father to some work and tell him to go 
ahead. Now, if hard times should come, if v/ork should become 
scarce, so that the emiployer will have to dismiss some of his work- 
men, will he dismiss your father with the first crowd? Indeed not. 
First he will discharge those who are inefficient. Your father 
will be the very last man he will think of sending away. He 
knows your father could get work anywhere. To lose your father 
would be a loss for him. It would hurt his business to let such a 
man go. Such a good workman is kept. A diligent worker makes 
himself indispensable. 

The examples and illustrations of diligence I have shown you so 
far do not show you all the beauty and advantage of diligence. 
There are still other rewards in store for diligence. 

Looking at the maps of the hemispheres you will have observed 
that neither water nor land is marked for the South Pole. Ex- 
plorers have not reached that part of the earth as yet, and so the 
maps leave a blank space at the pole. It remains to be seen whether 
there is land or water there. In like manner no trade or profes- 
sion is fully known or understood. There is still room for explorers 



VOCATION— NECESSITY OF DILIGENCE 



69 



to learn more about each trade or profession. Inventions adding 
to or changing the work of millions are made every day. 

You may learn some trade, or science, or profession, that millions 
have learned before you. They have not grasped it entirely ; neither 
will you. You may know more than those who lived fifty years 
ago, but so will others know more who live fifty years from now. 
There is always room for new ideas, new methods, new machinery, 
new tools and new branches of work. What was new yesterday will 
be old to-morrow. Who ever thought of gasoline engines and 
automobiles fifty years ago? To-day thousands of men work at 
these very machines. We see factories going up in every town 
turning out such engines or automobiles. Fifty years from now we 
may see as many factories building flying machines of some kind. 

Who will keep up this march of progress ? The idle and careless 
worker, or the man who is diligent and always willing to learn more 
about his trade or profession ? 

The road to success is a hard road. There is no bunting, no 
decoration, and no flags or welcome signs are found on the way. The 
road is hard, indeed, rough and steep. It means hard and endless 
work. Life is no Sunday-school picnic, but a hard work-day. For 
that reason be diligent, faithful, patient and untiring in your work 
that you may not work in vain. 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



XL The Boy and the College 

My dear boys: An experienced schoolman, after thoroughly 
examining our school and college system, passed the following 
criticism upon it: "America," he said, "makes a great mistake in 
training too many boys to become salaried people instead of wage- 
earners." Every little two by four brain is made to believe that it is 
made for something great ; that the one desirable thing is to follow 
some get-rich-quick scheme; that labor is a disgrace and idleness 
a distinction. 

As there are many girls afraid of doing housework for fear of 
disfiguring their beautiful hands, there are many boys going to high 
school or college to avoid hard work. As a result, we have too many 
doctors, lawyers and other professional and semi-professional men 
whose success would be far more substantial if they had learned a 
trade, such as carpenter or butcher. The trouble with our high 
schools and colleges is that there is not enough sifting done to keep 
out the undesirable and unfit element. 

It is by no means my intention to discourage any one from seeking 
a college education when it will be to him of real benefit. If a boy 
is really talented and has the vocation, by all means give him a 
college education. When, however, a boy is not sufiiciently bright, 
when he lacks the necessary diligence, will-power, and perseverance, 
then the years spent at college are a waste of time, of effort and 
money. 

An example from my experience will explain my meaning. A 
certain boy had passed in his eighth-grade examination by a narrow 



THE BOY AND THE COLLEGE 



71 



margin. His father was a well-to-do business man, and, of course, 
the boy had to go to college. Nothing else would do. The boy had 
no more aim or vocation for a profession than the man in the moon. 
But he had to go to college. After spending a few years at college, 
and regularly failing in his examinations, it became at last plain to 
the boy as well as to his father, that the boy was not intended for the 
professions. The only branch in which he gave any promise was 
drawing. I suggested that he do newspaper work, until he could 
find an opening to do illustrations for some magazine. The poor 
fellow, however, lacked push and perseverance, his failure at college 
had thoroughly discouraged him, and had made him lose all faith in 
himself. Now he is a clerk in a cigar store. 

This is only one of thousands of such deplorable cases, but with 
this particular case in mind I want to ask you two questions : 

First. What good did this boy get out of the years he spent so 
uselessly at college? Those years were not only a waste of time, 
they were actually detrimental to him. He learned to hate and de- 
test hard work. The years in which he might have learned some 
trade are beyond his recall. 

The second question is this : Will he be even a success as clerk ? 
He hates hard work of any kind, and, because he has no certain aim 
in life, I am afraid he will be a poor hand at earning his bread in 
any calling. 

You will now better understand me when I say high schools and 
colleges are not meant for the majority of boys. The very fact 
that a boy passes his eighth-grade examination does not imply that 
he must go to college. 

And those boys who think that at colleges life is easy, that there 
is no work to do, are sadly mistaken. Persistent study is much 
harder work by far than manual labor. 



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And when boys think that the highest aim of a college or high 
school is to turn out professional football or baseball players, they 
are also mistaken. There may be some colleges that pay m.ore atten- 
tion to muscle than brain; but, after all, the real object of a college 
is to train the mind and to store the mind with knowledge. 

Now, taking for granted tliat a boy is qualified to enter college, 
that he has an aim before him and does not go to college simply to 
waste time and shirk hard work, we may divide colleges into two 
varieties: those giving a business education, like commercial col- 
leges, and, classical colleges teaching languages, arts and sciences. 

Every boy intending to take up his father's business should acquire 
a business education. This comprises a thorough course in book- 
keeping, general office work and commercial law. If your father 
has a business of his own and you wish to succeed him, such a com- 
mercial training will be necessary for you. Some fifty years ago it 
was common for people to make fortunes even though they could 
not write their name. These times are past. In our mad rush the 
system that was new yesterday will be old-fashioned by to-morrow. 
You cannot expect to carry on business as it was done by your 
grandfathers. 

Commercial colleges do not only turn out typewriters, stenogra- 
phers and book-keepers. Young women are strong competitors in 
these branches. Not because they do this work better than young 
men, but they are content with less pay than a young man would 
usually demand for the same kind of work. In other colleges there 
are also taught electricity, electrical engineering, civil engineering, 
forestry, horticulture and the various branches of machinery, and 
they all offer opportunities for bright and diligent boys. And 
while many trades and professions are overcrowded, these 
branches of learning are usually not. The demand for civil en- 



THE BOY AND THE COLLEGE 



13 



gineers, electrical engineers and advanced machinists is often greater 
than the supply. 

Besides such technical colleges there is the classical college, teach- 
ing languages, arts and sciences, preparatory to courses in medicinCj 
law, philosophy and theology. Boys who wish to enter upon any of 
these callings fit themselves for them by going to such colleges. It 
would be better for the standing of the professions in particular, and 
for mankind in general, if such a college course would be obligatory, 
as it is in Europe. Physicians and lawyers who graduate from a 
good classical college before they enter the law or medical school, 
are generally more successful than those who can boast of only a 
three-year course in some inferior medical or law school. The young 
lawyer, with only a three-year course in some law school, may know 
just about enough law to pass an easy examination, but he has not 
the attainments of another who first went through college and who 
will command more confidence owing to his learning. 

The young doctor who has no other training than the three-year 
course of some second-rate medical school will, of course, try and 
practise medicine. These get-there-quick doctors are often more 
of a help to the undertaker than to their patients. 

In this rush of the present day we are inclined to be superficial. 
To spend ten or more years in studies is too long a time for most men. 
Hence we have so many quacks in the professions. When I went 
to college, I bought most of my books at a second-hand book store. 
To my great surprise I found most Latin and Greek authors almost 
in a new condition. In most cases I would find the first five, eight or 
ten pages somewhat the worse for wear, but all the rest of the book 
was as good as new. Evidently they had been the possessions of 
the many who made a trial at college and gave it up. 

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. To have only a slight 



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knowledge of one science or another may prove a drawback for the 
whole life. The conceited man with a little learning can be m.ore 
kinds of a fool in less time than the man of the backwoods who has 
only a district school training. 

If you firmly believe that a college education will be of benefit 
to you, make sure 3^ou are right, and then go ahead with a push and 
a good will. A college education, whether commercial or classical, 
will be the best gift that is in parents' power to give to you. 

And if you do go to college, bear in mind it is to develop j'-our mind 
and to make you capable of success in your aim of life. Remember, 
too, that knowledge should not engender pride. The brightest minds 
the world ever knew were simple and unpretentious. Never for a 
moment think that, because you have an annful of books, you are 
by this very fact a better boy than the one you see going to work 
with a dinner-pail in his hand. The boy with his little pail may some 
day be a greater and a better man than you, in spite of all your 
learning. 



VOCATION AND IDEALS 



XII. Vocation and Ideals 

My dear boys! Our talks on vocation would not be complete 
without some consideration of the importance of ideals. Almighty 
God endowed us with memory, will and understanding, and in His 
infinite wisdom He deemed it advisable to give to these three powers 
of our soul the support of the gift of imagination. Hence every 
boy — excepting the good-for-nothing variety — has his great ideal. 
His main idea, his principal thought will center around some thing 
or person connected with the vocation he has in mind. One day, he, 
too, hopes and desires to reach the goal others have reached before 
him. This is his ideal. 

A locomotive, a steamship, a fire-engine, the uniform of a soldier, 
farm life, a doctor's, merchant's or priest's vocation, or any of the 
other thousand and one callings are as many ideals for as many boys. 
Whatever the ideal may be, the boy thinks and thinks of that only. 
He will imagine countless cases and emergencies and picture to him- 
self how he would act in the various circumstances. His mind 
will come back to all these problems frequently and seriously. 

The boy who wants to be a locomotive engineer thinks there is 
nothing finer than running a locomotive. His only surprise is that 
others do not share his sentiment. While another boy would grow 
tired and disgusted with all the many technical names of the various 
parts of an engine, he thinks there is nothing grander than that 
study. Where another boy would get weary of figuring out the 
movements of the various wheels with mathematical precision, he 
would rather miss a meal than give up the problem. His whole 
life is wrapped up in this one ideal — a locomotive. 



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This boy knows, too, that it will require much hard work before 
he will be given the run of a train. But he knows likewise that with 
every shovel of coal he will have to throw into the firepot he will 
come nearer to his ideal. This one thought encourages him, makes 
his work light and agreeable and makes him think that his work is 
the grandest work on earth. 

The very fact that almighty God has given us imagination should 
be the reason for urging us to use it properly. Imagination need not 
make dreamers of us, forgetting the reality of life, our work and 
purpose. Properly trained and rightly directed, it is of incalculable 
benefit to us. It helps us to overcome the enormous difficulties we 
meet with in following out the holy will of God — our vocation. 

Did you ever notice a little girl playing with her doll ? The little 
girl imagines that her doll is alive. Her doll must eat and drink and 
sleep. Then again the girl pretends her doll is sick and she takes 
care of her sick doll as though she were a real mother to that doll. 
Why is that girl so fond of her doll ? It may be nothing but a bundle 
of rags. The reason she spends days and days with that bundle of 
rags is that her own mother, taking such tender care of her, is her 
ideal. She, too, wants to be a mother, thinking there is nothing bet- 
ter or nicer or grander than her mother. And in order to be a 
mother she must find something smaller and more helpless than 
herself upon which she may shower the same affection that she 
receives from her own mother. As she is told to be quiet, to sleep, 
to eat or drink, she thinks she must make the doll keep quiet, must 
sing the doll to sleep, and, if it should get sick, give it the same 
tender care the real mother gives. You might offer this little girl 
genuine diamonds and a string of pearls, she would never for a 
moment think of giving that bundle of rags in exchange for them. 
That doll has more value in her sight because it embodies an ideal. 



VOCATION AND IDEALS 



77 



Now, our ideals may, at times, be nothing more or better than such 
a lifeless bundle of rags. Perhaps they may never be realized. 
Nevertheless we treat them as seriously as the little girl treats 
her doll. 

As a rule, the higher we aim, the greater will be the obstacles that 
we must overcome. You may have determined upon some calling 
and you find everything against you. Your parents may not approve 
of your choice, you may not have the means in sight to carry out 
your plans, your boyhood friends may laugh at you for trying to 
climb higher than they would dare — if it were not for your ideal 
keeping your hope alive you would give up the struggle. 

Talking of trials and obstacles that are set in our way at the start 
of life I must tell you of the experience of a boy whose one ideal 
was machinery. As soon as he was old enough to work, he found 
work with some machinist. Nothing else suited him as well as that. 
An over-anxious mother, having heard and read of a number of acci- 
dents in which machinists were injured or killed, was not at all will- 
ing to let him learn this trade. According to her idea there was 
nothing nicer or cleaner than clerking in some dry-goods store. But 
the boy having machinery on his brain, as his mother put it, was 
finally permitted to follow his inclination. He was by no means 
satisfied with simply learning the A. B. C. of the trade ; he wanted to 
know all that could be known. He read books on machinery and 
soon knew more about the nature of forces than his master. He 
began constructing models of new machines and worked hard and 
faithfully. His master, seeing that he could teach him nothing more, 
though he disliked losing him, got him a place in some big shop. 
After a few years, this boy, now a young man, had changed the 
looks of that entire shop. By the models he had constructed he 
showed the firm that their machinery was behind the times. After 



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a thorough test the firm was convinced that the young man was right 
and he was told to go ahead. Old machinery was replaced by more 
modern motors, and the work of the firm thereafter was done at a 
great saving of time and labor. One day it happened that a pro- 
fessor of engineering at some university came to visit the head of the 
firm. The professor was shown through the plant. It was natural 
for him to take a great interest in the new machinery, and its sim- 
plicity and practicability astonished him. So the professor asked: 
"From which engineering school did your man graduate ?" "Why," 
replied the head of the firm, "the young man never saw the inside 
of a college." The professor thought it could not be possible, but 
after being introduced to the young man, he had to believe what he 
heard and he warmly congratulated the young man upon his great 
success. 

A boy who has no ideal will not amount to very much. He lacks 
courage and perseverance. He is without an aim in life, and aiming 
at nothing, he will accomplish nothing. He may feel like doing some- 
thing or being somebody, but he makes no serious or painstaking ef- 
fort, and when he realizes that he is a failure he will blame every- 
thing and everybody but himself for it. We find such people among 
tramps, loafers and cranks, and among socialists and anarchists. 
They should not blame the world, or man, or God, but themselves 
that they are human wrecks. Their indolence, their lack of purpose, 
of aim and perseverance, their lack of an ideal, their hatred of real 
work, has made them wrecks on the ocean of life. But as it is in 
human nature to put the blame for our misfortunes upon others, so 
these unhappy people blame others, where they should blame only 
themselves. 

Therefore, boys, have your ideals ! Weave a halo of light around 
the trade or profession you wish to follow. Look up to the lives of 



VOCATION AND IDEALS 



79 



great men who had their ideals, as you have yours. The highest 
positions in Hfe fell often to those who, as boys, had little or no 
chance of getting an education. Pope Sixtus V., as a boy, had poor 
prospects. He drove hogs. St. Patrick was a slave boy. One of 
our presidents was a mule-driver along the Miami Canal. But all of 
them had lofty ideals and did not remain what they were. 

One day a Franciscan Father who had lost his way sought direc- 
tion from a little boy who was driving hogs. The boy answered all 
the questions nicely, and was so polite and showed so much good 
sense that the priest took a great deal of interest in him. Learning 
that the boy's parents were poor and that he wished to become a 
priest, the Father took charge of him, brought him to the convent 
to study and the poor boy was made a priest. He succeeded so 
wonderfully in the trust placed in him, that he rose higher and 
higher, and in course of time he was elected pope, and took the name 
of Sixtus V. 

Our present Holy Father, Pius X., is likewise the child of poor 
parents. Little did he think when he went to school that one day he 
was to hold the highest rank on earth. But he had a lofty ideal. His 
ideal was to become a faithful and zealous priest. It cost him many 
efforts and trials, hardships and sacrifices ; but that ideal was before 
him and he overcame all obstacles. He preserved this same ideal 
during his priestly life. Now he has been raised to the highest honor 
and dignity a man can receive. He is now the faithful and zealous 
high-priest, the Vicar of Christ according to the heart of God. 

The life of every great man offers us a lesson in showing us how 
ideals should be fostered and carried out. Pick up the life of any 
of the saints, the life of any of the great men of the world, of this 
or any other country, and you will learn that it was the lofty ideals 
they upheld that made them great. Reading history, you can like- 



8o 



conperences for boys 



wise learn how men will fall when they lose sight of their ideals. A 
Benedict Arnold forgot his great ideal of patriotism. Like Judas, he 
became a traitor. You find monuments erected in honor of all the 
heroes of the Revolution; but the name of this one traitor is never 
mentioned. His name and honor would have never died had he not 
turned a traitor. He forgot his country and his ideal, and now his 
name is an object of contempt. 

In one of the halls at West Point every American general has a 
memorial tablet inscribed in his honor. Among that number there is 
one blank tablet. Visitors are told that that tablet was to have been 
reserved for Benedict Arnold had he not turned traitor. It is kept 
blank to show that his name should be forgotten. And like him, 
many have miserably failed, because they lost sight of the ideal they 
once had. 

Remember, then, how important it is for you to hold fast to your 
ideals. God and the world place great confidence and great hopes 
in you. Do not disappoint them. In our own grand country suc- 
cess is open to every boy. It is open to you, if you but try. 



FORMATION OF CFIARACTER 



8! 



XIII. Formation of Character 

My dear Boys : Who is there that does not enjoy a few days out 
in the country during summer time? To see the fields ready for 
harvest, to see the trees laden with fruit so that the branches must 
be propped up to keep them from breaking down with the weight 
of the fruit they hold. Pleasing though this sight may be, it all 
is the result of hard work. In spring the farmer must be out in the 
fields plowing, cultivating and sowing. The fruit trees must be 
trimmed and sprayed. Had the farmer been careless and idle, the 
fertile fields would be desolate wastes; the fruit trees now laden 
with fruit would be bare. The farmer, then, cannot expect a plenti- 
ful harvest unless he works faithfully in the spring. 

In a similar way our life is divided into seasons. Youth is the 
springtime of life. Unless you are busy now, your summer of ripe 
manhood and your winter of old age will be dismal failures. A 
few years hence you will be young men. It will not, however, do to 
be men in looks only, and mere children in actions. To be nothing 
but an over-grown baby is nothing to be proud of. The fact is, we 
have such over-grown babies. Some boys grow to young manhood 
without developing their character. As none of you want to be over- 
grown babies, you will have to develop your character. 

Cement, before placed into its mold, can be given any kind of 
shape. But after it has been placed into its mold it becomes hard 
as stone. 

At the present time your minds and hearts are soft and pliable, 
but you will be fashioned after the mold you will select, you will be- 
come fixed and set in your ways for better or worse. It is useless 



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to try and give the cement block another shape or size. It will be 
equally useless to try to give your heart and mind a different cast 
after you are once set in your ways. From this, then, you will see 
how important it is that our hearts and minds are given a proper 
training. If a serious fault is committed in that regard all the efforts 
in the world may not suffice to remedy it. 

This suitable training of mind and heart we call developing, or 
building up the character. We speak of good and bad characters in 
as much as this training was either good or bad. We may speak 
of a person as being a grand or lovely character because his good- 
ness of heart and mind outweighs everything else. Of others we 
may speak as being bad or dangerous characters because they are 
always inclined to do wrong. The thief, the drunkard, the liar, the 
backbiter, or the unchaste person, such people are called bad or 
dangerous characters, and with very good reason. 

Developing character, to a great extent, may be likened to the 
work of the architect. He first sees the building in his mind. Then, 
after he has fully thought out the plans, he brings them to paper. 
The masons receive their plans and specifications and are told how 
the various stones or bricks must be placed. The mason may not 
realize the greatness of the work. It is not necessary. All he has 
to do is to make his work agree with the plans before him. The 
beauty of the building will then take care of itself. All he must do 
is to put up the bare walls ; others will finish the work. 

In forming your character, another has made the plans long before 
you ever thought of character. The plans for your character were 
drawn up by none other than almighty God himself. He gave them 
to a helper to have your character built up for you. The Catholic 
Church is this helper and she does this work of building up your 
character by her teaching, by her parish school, her sodality, and, 



FORMATION OF CHARACTER 



83 



last but not least, by the aid of your parents. You yourself are the 
workmen. As the bricklayer may not realize the magnitude of the 
work as he lays stone upon stone, so neither may you realize the 
loftiness of the character you are building up by following the plans 
of God. Your early instructions at home, your training in school, 
your instructions prior to your first holy Communion, they are as 
so many stones and bricks. With them you have laid the founda- 
tion of a living temple of the Most High. And now, that the founda- 
tion has been laid, you must not think of stopping. As members of 
the Sodality, you continue this building up of your character. The 
conferences, the rules of the Sodality, daily prayer, the frequent 
reception of the Sacraments are as many more building stones. If 
you place all these stones as they should be placed according to the 
plans of our heavenly Father, you may be sure you are building for 
yourself a fine character ; a character pleasing to God, to His holy 
angels and the saints. 

Here again you find an explanation of the purpose of the Sodality. 
Its aim is not to get a nickel or a dime out of your spending money, 
but to help you systematically to build up your character. Boys that 
do not belong to the Sodality miss more benefits for their later 
years of life than they may realize at the present time. And, what 
is more, the loss is lasting. The future will never return to you 
your youth. 

The masons having finished the bare walls of a building, others 
come along to finish the work and make the building complete. 

To finish the building of your character according to the plans of 
God, you must carry out all His directions to your best ability. 

This finishing of your character building is carried out in a two- 
fold way. 

With original sin we inherited the inclination towards evil. This 



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inclination is towards evil in general and some certain sins m par- 
ticular. It is sometimes easier for us to lie than to tell the truth; 
easier to be idle than work ; easier to stay away from church than to 
attend it ; easier to be self-willed and stubborn than obedient. This 
is the general inclination towards evil, and it is bad enough, but 
there is still more reason for apprehension. For there is the particu- 
lar inclination towards some certain sins, some pet vices of which 
persons are guilty more often than of any other sin. Some certain 
sin is their specialty. One boy may be habitually foul-mouthed, 
another naturally lazy, another abusive, another quick-tempered and 
given to hatred and revenge, another indifferent towards religion, 
and so on. 

We need never think of building up a good character according 
to the plans of God if we permit such pet sins to grow stronger. Be- 
fore you are aware of it, your youthful hearts and minds will be set 
in their ways and then it will be too late to mend. The warfare you 
must wage against evil inclinations is different from any other. 
When two nations are at war they will stop fighting after they have 
had enough of it. Peace is declared and they enter upon agree- 
ments as though there had never been the least difference between 
them. If we could but say the same of our warfare against our 
evil inclinations ! If we could only say : *'Now this must stop. You 
have been beaten fairly and honestly so often that to fight longer 
would be useless." Alas, we can never say this. This battle will 
only end with our last breath. No victory of arms is so crushing as 
to force this enemy to surrender. We may gain a glorious victory 
and the very next moment be attacked again. W e may gain thou- 
sand victories, but lose the last battle and we are lost forever. For 
that very reason our dear Saviour said repeatedly, "Watch and 
pray." 



FORMATION OF CHARACTER 



85 



Therefore, to hope to crush our inclination to evil with one mighty 
blow would, indeed, be foolish. It can never be done. To build up 
our character systematically, we must aim the strongest blows at 
our pet sin. That means strengthening our weak point. Frequent 
Confession will show you your pet sin without much effort. And this 
pet vice must be stopped by all means, if you wish to be victorious 
at the end. With the grace of God we can overcome evil inclina- 
tions. Without Christ we can do nothing ; with Him, everything. 

Sad though the aspect of a predominant sin may be, there is the 
consolation that we have also an inclination for some certain virtue. 
Our heavenly Father has so shaped our disposition that some cer- 
tain virtue will appeal more to us, and seem easier to practise, than 
another virtue. Your training and environment have much to do 
with this. This idea we see brought out in the lives of the saints. 
The saints, it is true, practised all virtues, still they made one par- 
ticular virtue their specialty, and practised that in a higher and 
rriore heroic manner than other virtues. Where St. Francis excelled 
in humility, St. Elizabeth of Hungary excelled in patience. St. 
Francis of Sales excelled in meekness of heart, St. Aloysius excelled 
in purity, St. Wenzeslaus excelled in zeal for holy faith. And so we 
might go through the entire list of saints and find each one of them 
excelling in some certain virtue, as star differs from star in bril- 
liancy. 

We, too, have the germ of some certain virtue that should be a part 
of us. Some certain virtue will appeal strongly to us ; we will prefer 
it to others. That is exactly the very virtue we should try to culti- 
vate. One boy, for instance, is very charitable, always willing to 
help, even though it may inconvenience him ; another boy is particu- 
larly modest and abhors the least improper word ; another is inclined 
towards prayer; another is zealous for the glory of God and the 



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salvation of souls by bringing back to the true fold boys that had 
gone beyond the influence of even the pastor; another boy is very 
zealous for the holy faith, defending it fearlessly where others are 
afraid of saying a word. Whatever the virtue may be to which you 
feel yourself drawn, practise it faithfully. The other virtues will 
follow in due time. 

Our character would, furthermore, be developed only insufficiently 
if we tried merely to avoid evil. As we are unable to overcome evil 
with ©ne blow, so neither will be able to practise all the virtues at 
once. To develop the good disposition we have, we must practise 
the virtue to which we are most drawn. Having mastered the first 
virtue, the one we admire most, we begin practising other virtues 
till, in the fullness of God's own time, we have finished the building 
up of our character and receive a crown in exchange for it. 

Character is to disposition what vocation is to work. In each we 
should endeavor to draw out and develop the best that is in us. In 
choosing our vocation we try to use our talents and gifts according 
to the holy Will of God. In developing character we try with His 
grace to overcome evil impulses and practise the opposite virtues, so 
that we may at all times think and speak and act in a way pleasing 
to God. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF TRIFLES * 87 



XIV. The Importance of Trifles 

My dear Boys : Many boys, in building up character, overlook 
the importance of trifles. In their boyish eagerness, they will strive 
only for what seems big and important to their minds. All matters 
that do not come up to these great things of life are considered 
of no value. Yet life is made up of a chain of trifles, and as a chain 
is as strong only as its weakest link, the most carefully made chain 
will amount to nothing if it has one weak link. So may our life be 
ruined by one trifle. 

No man is made a saint or sinner in one day. The progress in 
either direction is slow; so slow, in fact, that it is almost imper- 
ceptible. Trifles pave the way to virtues and to vices. 

One unkind word may not mean so much, it may be only a trifle ; 
but if it is followed by others, there will soon be a fault-finding, 
nagging and quarrelsome disposition. And that is by no means a 
trifle. One little theft may be the outcome of some boyish prank or 
frolic ; as, for instance, boys will go into a field or orchard to help 
themselves. Of course, they would not for a moment want to appear 
as thieves. Boys do not call it stealing when they enter the field 
or orchard of another man. Now, however, if you go to prison and 
ask any of the convicts, they might tell you, if they wished to speak 
the truth, that their thefts started in just such little pranks. So 
does a jocose lie not mean very much. It is a trifle, people will say. 
Still, lies will grow. The backbiter, the slanderer, the murderer of 
fair reputations, they all began by telling "white lies." 

Rightly speaking, there are no trifles. 

To bring this lesson of the importance of trifles home to you, I 

can do nothing better than give you an example from life. 



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Some years ago, a certain old man became a regular caller at the 
rectory. He was a smooth talker, and there was something about 
him, his way of speech, and his general bearing, that made me feel 
that he must have seen better days. This old man would, for a time, 
come once a week with a supply of lead-pencils and note-books, 
selling them at about double the price one would ordinarily have to 
give for them. Still, because he seemed poor, I did not feel inclined 
to bargain with him, because he seemed to make an attempt at sup- 
porting himself, instead of depending entirely upon charity. Then, 
again, months would pass, when the old man would not call. All 
of a sudden he would bob up again, with pencils and little note-books, 
and opportunities of practising charity. One day I asked him his 
name. He muttered some words I could not understand, and left 
the house. From that day on I never saw him again. 

Some time after, the daily papers told of an old man having been 
caught forging a note. The description of the man tallied exactly 
with my frequent visitor. Before sentence was pronounced, the 
court asked whether he had anything to say. The words of that 
old man were printed in full, because they conveyed a profound 
lesson. He stated that he had given a fictitious name, because he 
had agreed not to humble the name of his family. Then he told 
the story of his boyhood. Being the son of wealthy parents, he 
thought work was a disgrace. At school he was too lazy to study. 
To get along with his class, he copied his lessons from others. All 
this was overlooked, because he was the pet at home. In course of 
time, he went to college. There he was caught at cribbing and dis- 
missed in disgrace. 

Forging lessons at school was a trifle in comparison to cribbing 
in an examination at college, but that trifle led him to disgrace. 

His dishonest practice of cheating the teacher at school did 



THE IMPORTANCE OF TRIFLES 



89 



not remain a trifle. It grew larger at college, and still larger 
in later years. He became a cheater and forger, and there is hardly 
a prison on this side of the Mississippi River that did not harbor him 
at one time or another. At the end of his sad story, he cursed his 
parents for having been too lenient with him ; he cursed his teacher ; 
he cursed himself, and the day of his birth ; he cursed the day of his 
first theft. His tragic story deeply moved his hearers, and they 
looked on him with pity as he was led away to imprisonment. 

By this time, this unhappy man may have faced another judge. 
Let us hope that God's mercy was his in abundance. 

This old man might have been highly respected ; his fellow-citizens 
might have given him offices of trust and honor ; he might have had 
a beautiful home ; he might have had a happy family, a good wife, 
and loving children; but, instead of all that, his life was a life of 
misery. And all the misery of that old man was the consequence of 
a trifle. Had he been honest enough as a boy to consider the forging 
of lessons a dishonorable act, he would not have been guilty of 
copying examination papers in college. Had he passed through 
college successfully, and had he kept a clean record, he would have 
been an honor to any profession. It was a trifle that brought about 
his downfall, and you may go to all the prisons and poorhouses, 
asking the inmates the reason of their downfall, and they will tell 
you a similar story. Many of these unhappy people had homes as 
happy and as sweet as yours ; they were at one time as well-meaning 
and as well-disposed as you are to-day. That, however, did not 
prevent them from falling into the snare of trifles. 

Never think for a moment that you can taste of the forbidden 
fruit just enough to know what it tastes like, thinking yourselves 
strong enough to withstand later on. You will not. Others thought 
so, too. They fell. 



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As some trifles lead to crime, others lead to virtue. And, although 
it is natural for well-meaning boys to maintain high ideals, it 
is equally natural for them to overlook the trifles that lead up 
to them. Hence the highest praise a successful man may receive 
will be to be called a master of detail, a master of trifles. To master 
trifles means to master one's self. Success is only found in master- 
ing trifles. 

To say a kind work for an absent one when others speak ill of 
him, may not mean much in itself; but every such word helps to 
build up a noble character. To do a little favor, especially when one 
knows that he will receive nothing but ingratitude in return, may 
not be more than a trifle of itself; but each act of this kind helps 
to make our character lofty. Not a day passes but offers us count- 
less opportunities of doing good. These actions may be nothing 
but trifles as far as the world judges, but each and every one of them 
helps us to become more noble and virtuous. 

No doubt, you have seen mosaic floors put together with thou- 
sands of little stones. One of these little stones will not make a 
showing. You must have a great number of them, place them 
side by side, according to a definite plan, and you get those 
wonderful pictures and designs produced with mosaic work. 

In a similar manner, our life is made up of trifles, which, if placed 
carefully after a good plan, will make life a success. 

Misplacing one single little stone of a mosaic composition may 
spoil the effect of the design. So, in like manner, one trifle may 
oftentimes undo a life work. We would, no doubt, take better care 
of trifles, if we could but know the far-reaching result they have. The 
future only can show us the relation and proportion of the various 
trifles to each other and their effect upon our life. It is only when we 
look back upon the past and recall the various little instances and 



THE IMPORTANCE OF TRIFLES 



91 



trifles, that have had a bearing upon our course of action, that we 
begin to realize their importance. 

I remember an instance in which a trifle was the means of a boy 
becoming a priest. This boy had the desire of being a priest, but his 
parents were opposed to his vocation. It happened that the pastor 
was sick and the assistant priest gave the instruction to the first com- 
municants. The lesson was Holy Orders, a study which for this 
boy had great interest. When the priest returned to the rectory 
his pastor asked him how he liked the class. "Very well," he 
replied, "but one of the boys should become a priest. This boy not 
only answered every question about Holy Orders, but he explained 
the answers so intelligently that he evidently is very fond of the 
subject." Through the help of that assistant priest this boy became 
a priest. One trifle, little though it seemed in itself, was the key to 
his success in gaining the object of all his desires. 

Therefore, do not lose sight of trifles. A trifle, be it ever so 
small — if it leads to sin — must be shunned. It is enough for us to 
know that just such trifles have brought ruin and disgrace upon 
others. Do you wish your lives to be held up as a warning to 
others ? Will it not be far better for the world and ourselves if our 
lives serve as a model for others to imitate? It is advisable and 
necessary to keep our gaze on the lofty ideals; but, at the same 
time, it is indispensable to look where we are walking so that we 
should not fall. What would it profit us if we gazed at the stars and 
by a misstep fall into an abyss ! 

As you should shun the trifles leading to sin, so you must profit 
by the trifles that lead to good. Every day some little trifle will 
help to make you more perfect in virtue, and more pleasing and 
lovable in the sight of God. Unless we are faithful in little things, 
we shall not be faithful in things of importance. 



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XV. The Manly Boy 

My dear Boys : Now that we have considered the up-building of 
character and the importance of trifles, let us consider some of the 
usual traits of boys, — good traits and bad traits, — in a particular 
way. The conferences upon these traits will show us the plan of 
our character building in what architects would call detail drawings. 

The trait that may be considered one of the most important is 
manliness. Hence we will for to-day consider the manly boy. 

There is hardly a word in our language that is given so many 
meanings, many of them mistaken, as the word manliness. 

Some consider as manly the boy who has a chip on his shoulder 
from morning to night, spoiling for a fight at all times. Such a 
boy is very careful in sizing up his antagonist, and, when he thinks 
he has found an easy mark, goes for him without mercy. And, 
because he can overcome so many weaker ones he is admired by 
many as a manly boy. Others there are who see manliness in 
stubbornness. Some boys are as stubborn as mules. To argue 
with such stubborn boys does as little good as reasoning with a 
stone wall. And such stubbornness, that will not listen to reason, 
is looked upon by some as manliness. 

True manliness, however, does not consist in any of these things. 
So far as bodily strength is concerned many animals are stronger 
than man. Yet no man will for that reason consider such animals 
superior to man. Strength is a gift that God has distributed among 
men very unevenly. And often it happens that giants in bodily 
strength are dwarfs in regard to brains. As a rule, great scholars 



THE MANLY BOY 



93 



and artists would not last for one round with a prize-fighter. Neither 
can prize-fighters usually pass a high-school examination. The 
man with the strength of an ox may not have an ounce of manliness 
about him; he may be nothing but a brute. 

As manliness does not consist in mere bodily strength, neither 
is it mere stubbornness of the will. The boy who wants his 
way, even when his judgment tells him he is wrong, is not for that 
reason a manly boy. Indeed, he is anything but that. We find 
stubbornness in mules, but we do not for that reason hold them up 
to the world as models of manliness. 

In what, then, does true manliness consist? 

True manliness consists in strength of the soul, rather than in 
bodily strength or stubbornness. 

Such strength of the soul will influence and guide the will to 
do what is right, no matter what the consequences may be. Hence, 
when we speak of a manly boy, we do not mean a young prize- 
fighter, or a bull-headed boy, but a boy who lives up to his con- 
victions, always thinking and saying and doing what his conscience 
tells him is right. 

We will, for the present, leave religiorfis convictions out of 
consideration, because that subject will be treated fully when we 
come to consider our duties to our holy Faith. For the present 
we will consider strength of soul in our every-day conduct. 

A crowd of boys has gathered and they are talking about an 
absent boy. One says this, another says that, and nothing very 
complimentary. All have their little hammers out, knocking un- 
mercifully. Have you the heart to speak up and say; "Boys, you 
should not talk that way ; if what you say is true, you have no right 
to expose his faults, and if what you say is not true, you are 
guilty of slander." "Oh, I cannot speak up like that," you may say ; 



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"why, the whole crowd will go for me, if I should call them to time 
in such a way." 

If such is your way of looking at it, you are not a manly boy. 
You will permit a wrong to go on for fear that some might take 
offense at your doing what in the sight of God and man w^ould be 
just and right. A manly boy will understand that such boys can 
never be true friends. If they talk in this manner about others 
what will prevent them from speaking about you as soon as you 
have turned your back? And if by being manly enough to stand 
up for right a boy loses the friendship of such companions he must 
know the loss will not be great. 

Suppose you have been guilty of a wrongful act for which another 
is made to suffer. Are you manly enough to own up to your own 
bad conduct, or are you going to allow another to suffer for your 
misdeed? If you are not manly, you will have no feeling for the 
innocent sufferer and, rejoicing that suspicion does not point youi 
way, you may even try all you can to shift the blame upon others, 
and possibly employ unfair means to shield yourself while another 
suffers innocently for your bad conduct. Such behavior is not 
manly. If you own up to your guilt, you will be a little hero in 
the sight of all that know you. A great many faults are overlooked 
if we own up to them manfully. On the other hand, to permit others 
to suffer for what you have been guilty of is mean and cowardly. 
As the truth is bound to come out some time, cowardice will 
be made known, and then you need not expect pity or mercy, 
because you do not deserve any. 

Years ago, out West, an innocent man was sentenced to death. 
Circumstantial evidence was so strong that he was declared guilty 
of having murdered two girls. The unhappy man, when placed 
under the gallows, declared that as he was about to stand face to 



THE MANLY BOY 



face with a higher judge, and as he would never think of appearing 
before God with a He upon his Hps, he would afifirm with his last 
breath that he was innocent of the crime and that he died for the 
crime another had committed. A few years later a relative of these 
two girls died. On his deathbed he confessed that he had murdered 
the girls and that he had sworn falsely in order to fasten the blame 
upon the innocent man. This cowardly murderer had saved his 
reputation for a short time. He was able, by swearing falsely, to 
deceive the judges of this world ; but now he had to appear before 
another judge who could not be deceived. He could not fool God. 
What reputation did this cowardly murderer leave behind for him- 
self and his family.^ And an innocent man had to die a shameful 
death for this cowardly murderer, an innocent family had suffered 
disgrace. 

Manliness is also manifested in fearlessly saying our mind when 
we are thoroughly convinced of the right. 

It is impossible to avoid all misunderstandings and all of us are 
liable to make mistakes. Nor are we able to fathom all the thoughts 
or intentions of others when, at times, we do not even know our 
own minds. For that reason we are sometimes likely to see slights 
and insults where none were intended. We know very little of 
the troubles and sorrows others may have. We cannot expect 
that the faces of our friends should always be happily smiling 
when they see us. 

To illustrate this, let us say, two boys, James and John, are 
chums. They have known each other since they were children and 
now they go to work in the same shop. One morning James had 
some little trouble at home. He was so taken up with the thought 
that he did not hear John say good morning to him. That made 
John wonder greatly. He tried to think what Jam.es could be angry 



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about and finally thought: if he cannot return my greeting, well, 
I shall not bother him hereafter. The next morning James had 
forgotten his little trouble. He spoke to John but John had no 
answer for him. Then James begins to worry, wondering what 
went \vrong with John and resolved never to speak to John 
until he speaks first. Now the two boys are at odds. Neither 
knows the reason why. The}^ avoid the company of each other, 
suspecting each other of things of which neither is guilty. Neither 
of them knows why their stanch friendship has come to a sudden 
end. 

You will admit, boys, that such conduct is certainly foolish. 

That James may have had some little trouble at home, is perfectly 
natural. That the thought of it must have worried him and let 
other things escape his notice is equally natural. Now, if John 
had been a manly lad he would have said at the first chance "What's 
the matter, James, I said good morning to you and you never 
answered. Something must have gone wrong else you would not 
act like that." And then James would have told of his trouble 
and both would be the same fast friends. And if James had been 
manly enough the following day, he would have asked John why 
he did not answer. Then John could have explained. But neither 
of the two was manly enough to speak up and as a result they 
are enemies, — perhaps — for life. 

What use is there of a watch that will not keep correct time? 
That watch may bring us into all kinds of trouble if we must do 
work that demands punctuality. What is the use of having the 
will, when we are afraid of acting the way we should. 

You cannot keep up bodily strength without proper exercise. 
Neither can you acquire, nor keep up, strength of soul without 
proper training. What dumb-bells, punching-bag and Indian clubs 



THE MANLY BOY 



97 



are for the strengthening of the body that conscience will do for 
the soul. 

And since you wish to be manly boys, every one of you, exercise 
your soul by following your conscience. Conscience is the voice 
of God. Never think or say or do anything for which your con- 
science would reprimand you. Remember, you may have the 
strength of a young lion, and the stubbornness of a mule, without 
having the least trace of manliness. 

Always think and speak and act as your conscience tells you that 
you should and you will be manly. 

The world despises nothing more than a coward. And, unless 
you follow the dictation of your conscience, you will belong to 
that class of people so heartily despised by every right thinking man. 



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XVL The Sneaky Boy 

My dear Boys: If you would meet with a snake on your path 
you would either run away as fast as your feet could carry you, 
or you would try and render the reptile powerless to do harm. 
The sort of human being usually called sneak causes the same 
feeling of disgust that one has at the sight of a snake. And, 
although it would be against all laws, human and divine, to kill 
such a person, a good tongue lashing or even a good, old-fashioned 
beating may be in order where flight would be ill-advised. 

You know how the sneak starts out. At school he is the "goodie- 
goodie boy" so far as appearances go. In spite of his pretense, 
he will be ready for the dirtiest work, — provided he believes he 
will not get caught at it. He knows and practises mean tricks at 
the expense of others; he will steal and copy his lessons. He will 
try and appear bold and masterful to be called a manly lad; and 
timid and humble, if he can pass off as a model of obedience and 
meekness. 

If some other boy should try to play an innocent and harmless 
joke, the sneak will go and tell on him. He will endeavor to get 
into the good graces of the teachers, in order to have more influ- 
ence, and will be chummy with unsuspecting victims to harm them 
all the easier. As he grows older he will seek to become the pets 
of those that are older than he. Through their influence he will 
try and take advantage of those of his own age. And so he will 
go on until found out. 

And then people will be shocked to think that this nice boy went 



THE SNEAKY BOY 



99 



wrong. Why, he was so good, so pious ; why, he would not hurt 
a fly. 

Really, however, there need be no surprise over the fate of such 
sneaks. They may be successful in concealing their wicked designs 
for a time ; but, sooner or later, they are bound to be found out. 

Feel the paw of a cat. How smooth and soft it feels. Let the 
cat get up its temper and you will feel the ugly claws that are 
concealed in the pretty paw. The sneak is like such a paw. His 
talk is velvety and smooth, he appears as harmless as an innocent 
kitten, but there is malice concealed under the bland exterior. 

As a rule, it does not take long to find out the sneak. Deception 
is so hard to play consistently that the deceiver gets often caught 
in his own traps, weary of wearing the mask continually he shows 
his face in unguarded moments. 

To protect yourselves against the mischief of the sneak, it will be 
necessary to lay down three rules for your conduct. In complying 
with them you may save yourselves untold worry and misery. 

(i) Pay no attention to flattery or smooth talk. 

No one will ever think of flattering you unless he sees in it 
some benefit to himself. The sneak, in telling you of your great 
strength, your good looks, or of your brilliant talents, may have a 
hard time keeping his face straight ; he does not mean a word of it. 
But, being a master of smooth talk he plays his part with great 
apparent sincerity. If you are easy you will believe him and give him 
credit for knowing enough to appreciate your talents, your looks 
or your strength, and you feel that you have gained another true 
friend, — one that really gives you credit for what you are and what 
you know. 

As soon as the sneak has gained your confidence he will begin 
to make use of you to further his own purposes. There may be 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



some dirty work for him to do; too dirty perhaps for himself. 
And he will get you to do it for him. He will manage to make it 
so agreeable for you, you will never suspect that you are his tool 
and his fool until it is too late. 

Never listen to flattery, therefore, it is not meant for your 
benefit. 

Granted that what the flatterer says may be partly true, even then 
we should not find pleasure in it. The swan is a beautiful animal 
to look at as it swims proudly on a placid lake. But its feet are 
clumsy and ugly. There is so much imperfection in the best of men 
that flattery is always out of place. Flattery and truth are strangers 
since the fall of Adam. 

Talking of flattery reminds me of a man who was governor of 
one of our states. For a time he was even mentioned as a presi- 
dential candidate. He had been a poor boy and worked his way 
up from the work-bench. He led a spotless life, was honest and 
fearless. 

He was elected mayor of one of our large cities, and finally 
elected governor of the state. His reputation for honesty was 
known throughout the land. There was not enough money in 
the world to bribe him. He was fearless in enforcing the law, no 
matter how powerful the culprit. As great as he was, he was not 
without his weakness. His enemies found it out. This man, whom 
money could not buy, was open to flattery. By skilful flattery one 
could get anything out of him. Some scoundrels made use of 
flattery to gain his confidence and good-will; they were given 
appointments of trust and responsibility. These men had no love 
for the governor, their assurances of admiration and devotion were 
lies. 

In the course of time they managed to cheat the state out of 



THE SNEAKY BOY 



lOI 



hundreds of thousands of dollars and to all appearances it seemed 
as though this upright and fearless governor had been the partner 
of these low grafters. For was it not he who had helped them to 
get these positions of trust and responsibility ? Thus discredited and 
disgraced, the governor left the country when his term had expired 
and died shortly after. It is said that he died of a broken heart. 
Those he had considered his faithful friends had betrayed him and 
caused his disgrace and ruin. 

Had this man been as callous to flattery as he had been to 
threats and bribery, he might even have occupied the presidential 
chair, with credit to himself and honor to his country. But his 
weakness for flattery put a sudden end to his usefulness, and his 
last days were spent in sorrow and anguish. 

(2) Never allow any one to talk to you about the faults of others. 
The same person will go and talk to others about your faults, 

true or imaginary. 

The sneak will come to you and tell you what so-and-so has said 
about you. Perhaps it is true ; often it is not. At any rate, he will get 
you worked up to a proper pitch of indignation and then you 
begin telling him what you know about this same so-and-so. That 
is exactly what the sneak wants. Then he goes to so-and-so, and 
tells him what you said. Very likely the story is improved upon 
for greater effect. As a result, you may have lost a true friend; 
worse yet, there may be enmity resulting in all kinds of spiteful 
doings, and the sneak rejoices and chuckles at the quarreling. If 
you wish to save yourself trouble and worry, never pay attention 
to gossip, and never permit yourself to be drawn into it. 

(3) The third rule to govern your actions in guarding against the 
sneak is this : Never allow yourself to expose the hidden faults of 
others. 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



Like a peddler, going from house to house with all kinds of 
articles, the sneak goes from one to the other peddling gossip. He 
will give you all the gossip you want to hear in exchange for the 
gossip you will give him. The sneak has studied his part well 
and he will know how to handle you to get the information he wants. 
He will put questions and make suggestions so cleverly that, before 
you are aware of it, he has trapped you in some manner. And then 
you will either tell him the rest, or he guesses it. It will not take him 
long to put two and two together, and, with what you have said and 
what he knows, everything is now in readiness to make trouble. 

The sneak may find it hard to win you by flattery ; he may not be 
able to get your ear for his gossip; but this third rule, — never 
to permit yourself to reveal the hidden faults of others, — will be 
the one he will seek to make you break for his benefit. 

The reason why this trick of the sneak is so dangerous is that it 
appeals so much to human nature. Say what you will, in your heart 
of hearts you are conscious of your faults and shortcomings. 
We are all alike in this. We hope that our faults may remain 
hidden to our dying day. We want to keep them hidden by all 
means. To keep them covered up, we will always try to appear at 
our best. If, by speaking of the faults of others, we can keep our 
own reputation from close scrutiny we are tempted to sacrifice 
charity so that we may appear in a better light. 

The one weapon we have against the sneak is — manliness. 

Observe and practise these three rules, that I have just laid down, 
in a manly way. You will then be feared by the sneak, and admired 
by every honest and well-meaning boy. 

In dealing with the sneak, it will not pay to mince words. Let 
him know that you can look clear through him ; let him know what 
you think of him and of his methods. 



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103 



As for yourselves, be at all times candid. Never be guilty of 
underhand methods in your dealings. Never make the business 
of other people your business. If you properly mind your own it 
will keep you busy for the remainder of your life. 

Time will come for the sneak when all his resources will be 
exhausted; when all that know him will have realized his mean 
character; when the enemies he has made will accomplish his 
exposure, then the sneak will reap what he sowed. All his life long 
he has sown discord, hatred, envy, jealousy and revenge. And so 
he will reap the enmity and retaliation of those he has harmed, and 
the contempt of all right-minded people. 



I04 CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



XVII. The Boy Who Saves 

My dear boys: When a boy begins to work he usually turns 
his earnings, little though they be, over to his parents. They in 
turn, if they can do so, give him a certain amount of these wages as 
spending money. This custom, as observed in most families, is 
very reasonable. On the one hand, it is the boy's duty to help his 
parents along, not as though he could ever repay them, cent for cent 
and dollar for dollar, for what they have done for him, for that 
is impossible. It should be done as a mark of gratitude. On the 
other hand, it is also right that the boy should be given some spend- 
ing money, because he is no longer a child going to school. The 
question now is ; what should the boy do with his spending money ? 
Everybody will understand that your spending money cannot 
amount to very much, because the wages you earn are small. Still, 
is there any reason why you should be like a little child that runs 
to the candy store as soon as it has received a penny? Should 
you spend all your money in the pleasures of one evening and then 
feel wretched for the rest of the week because you haven't a cent? 
Would it not be a far better policy to divide that spending money, 
allowing yourself a certain part of it each day, and laying something 
of it aside though it be only a dime ? 

It seems as though some boys will never be able to save money. 
Their money seems to burn a hole through their pockets. These 
very boys show by their way of acting that there is plenty of truth 
about the old saying of the fool and his money being soon parted. 
These boys can hardly realize that in a very few years they will 
have to depend upon nothing but their own resources. As long as 



THE BOY WHO SAVES 



they were children, they found their table furnished them with three 
square meals ; they found a cozy bed to sleep in, and a stove to keep 
them warm in winter. They scarcely ever realize that father and 
mother must provide by hard work all these home comforts. 
And, if by some accident, these boys should be left to themselves 
they will find out that life is by no means a picnic. 

In spite of the fact that ours is a land of plenty, there are every 
day many people going to bed hungry. Riches and poverty are 
often next-door neighbors. To consider the various causes of 
poverty would take us too long a time. But one of the most fre- 
quent causes of misery in the midst of plenty is extravagance. 
Some people wish to buy all they see advertised. They want to live 
and dress as well as others who may earn double their salary oi 
wages. Every show, picnic, excursion, circus must be taken in oi 
they will not be happy. You cannot insult those people worse than 
by hinting that they ought to live within their income. 

Now look at some of the boys and girls earning, perhaps, four or 
five dollars a week. All they earn is spent for adornment or pleasure. 
In case of sickness, there would not be a penny for medicine or 
doctor bills. Their rings or watches would have to be sent to the 
pawn shop. If they were to lose their position, they would not 
know where the money should come from to pay for the next 
meal. And then, if that happens, people will go and complain of bad 
luck, instead of mismanagement; they blame the world for the 
suffering that is entirely their own fault. 

To show you the importance of saving I will explain to you 
two important business rules. The first of them is; It is hard to 
make money, but still harder to keep it. 

You realize how hard you must work to earn a few dollars. 
You know, also, that with a nickel here and a dime there, your 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



spending money goes faster than you earn it. You hear the 
grumbler say : "what's the use of saving a few pennies ; shouldn't I 
have any fun at all? Those few pennies I am told to save will 
not make me rich!" In later years, this same grumbler will prob- 
ably have the biggest hard-luck story to tell. 

Will it pay you to begin saving at the present time? I say; 
yes! Suppose that on your fourteenth birthday you begin to lay 
aside ten cents a week and keep it up until you are twenty-one 
years of age. As the habit to save gets stronger within you, you 
will put fifteen or twenty-five cents in your little bank. At the age 
of twenty-one, that saved money will amount to fifty dollars or 
more. That money will be as good as found, because you never 
really missed it. It is true that this small amount is nothing in 
comparison to the fortune of a rich man ; but for you it will mean 
a great deal. To you it shows the wisdom of economy and of 
self-denial. The lesson this saving has taught you is worth vastly 
more than the amount saved. Those years of constant saving will 
be the foundation of your future success. Many a time, when you 
put the few pennies aside, you may have felt like using them 
for some other purpose. But, with each little amount so put aside, 
you strengthened your habit of saving; your repeated acts of 
self-denial became easier in course of time, and, at the age of 
twenty-one, you will have learned what many others will never 
learn; namely, that we all must practise economy and self-denial 
if we wish to be successful, to become independent. 

Hence, boys, save a little each week. Divide your spending 
money so that it will reach for every day of the week and leave 
something to put aside. Get the habit! Like every other good 
habit, though it may seem difficult at the start, it will become 
easier by practise. The habit to save will grow with your income. 



THE BOY WHO SAVES 



You will consider it a matter of course to save more when you 
earn more. 

It will be absolutely useless to try and save by fits and starts. 
Unless it is done systematically, perseveringly, your saving will 
never be a success. You must make economy and saving a habit. 
Then you will be sure of having something for a rainy day. 

The second important business rule is : It matters little what you 
earn; it is what you can lay aside that counts. 

Many boys will not think it worth while to save a few pennies 
a week. That is all nonsense with them. Don't they want their 
fun? If they have to work so hard, shouldn't they have some 
pleasure out of it ? Others will tell you they cannot think of saving 
anything at the present time. They are just about keeping even with 
expenses, but as soon as they get more pay they will begin to save. 
All this talk is just about as sensible as if a boy would say he 
will never go near the water until he can swim. No boy can learn 
how to swim unless he tries real hard, time and again. Nor will 
a boy learn how to save unless he tries hard, very hard. 

How is it that many a man cannot save a cent though he earns 
twenty-five dollars a week, where another man who earns only 
half of that finds it possible to lay aside two or three dollars a 
week. The former has kept on saying that he is going to save when 
he will earn more. His salary has been raised every few years. 
But as his salary kept growing, he felt he had more needs and 
wants, and, in trying to provide for them, he was just about able 
to keep out of debt and nothing more. If that man should ever 
earn a hundred dollars a week, there would be so many new wants 
that he would probably need all of it to provide for them. 

Many a laborer earning only two dollars a day is able to lay 
something aside. Nobody need tell him his salary is small; he 



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knows it. He knows, too, that nobody will look out for him when 
he is unable to work, and so he divides his money accordingly. 
He will not rent a house he cannot afford; his living expenses 
will fit his income; he will have a certain amount set aside for 
clothing, a little for pleasure — in which the entire family will 
take part, and what remains is saved. In twenty years it may 
easily happen that the hundred-dollar-a-week man will be out of 
a position and penniless whereas the other, with his little earnings 
and savings, will own his house and lot — ^and have a few hundred 
dollars in the bank for a rainy day. 

Which of these two men would you want to be when you are old ? 
You will prefer to be the man who earned less and was able to 
save, rather than the other who spent his money as quickly as he 
got it. 

You are now in the period of transition from childhood to man- 
hood. Unless you learn now to save you will never learn it. For 
the ways of spending money multiply with the number of years. 

When you were little, your parents have granted you many a 
whim. But remember, you are little children no longer. Your 
parents might have enjoyed many a pleasure for the money spent 
c«i you, but they knew they had a duty towards you. Many things 
they have denied, and still deny themselves, because there were and 
are hungry mouths at home that must be fed. Now it is your 
turn to follow this very way of self-denial in little things. In 
course of time you will have to make much greater sacrifices. 
Get ready to make them at their proper time, by learning to render 
smaller sacrifices at the present time. Many a show and circus will 
come to town in later years that you will not be able to see ; many 
an excursion will go up the river and down the river that you will 
not be able to join; many a merry party you will have to miss; 



THE BOY WHO SAVES 



109 



begin to practise self-denial now so that you may become strong 
when the time of trial comes; begin saving now so that you may 
acquire the habit of economy, and thrift, without which no one can 
be successful. 



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XVIII. The Spendthrift 

My dear boys : — If you ever had to take care of a little child, you 
know that you could never give it all it wanted. Let a little 
child see a toy and it will kick and yell till it can get hold of it. 
That toy, however, will by no means make the child happy. The 
novelty soon wears off. When it sees another toy the child will not 
be satisfied until it can have that new toy. The other has been cast 
aside. No amount of reasoning will make the child see its folly. 

One oftentimes wonders that such small parcels of flesh and bone 
contain so much greed and self-will. Even before a child is able to 
speak, he wants to have his way about everything ; he wants all that 
is within sight. And when cake is passed around, he wants the 
biggest piece. Nothing else will do. 

This disposition of greediness grows in children if their wants 
and desires are not properly curbed. Such a boy grows up with the 
idea that he is entitled to the best there is, not because he deserves it, 
but because he wants to have it to satisfy one of his many whims. 
He has no consideration for the rights of others. His brothers and 
sisters, his playmates, are not considered. They are expected to give 
up their share to him, and he becomes ugly if some one puts in a 
claim to something that he wants for himself. This spoiled boy 
wants everything he takes a fancy to. All his spending money goes 
as quickly as he can lay his hands on it. The young spendthrift 
spends it without any benefit to himself. It would be easier for him 
to carry water in a sieve than to save even one penny. 

With these few remarks, my dear boys, you have been given an 
idea of how the first wicked impulses of a child, unless they are 



THE SPENDTHRIFT 



III 



checked in time, will grow from bad to worse ; you understand how 
it is possible that a man may become a spendthrift. 

I once knew a bright young man who had been such a spoiled 
child. He finished his course in some business college. After grad- 
uation, he was given an important position with some big wholesale 
firm. Although hardly twenty years of age, he was made the equal 
of some, and the superior of others, twice his age. The salary he 
got in one week was more than many working men get in a month. 
But he found no difficulty in getting rid of it. It was his one 
ambition in life to be called a good fellow. He certainly succeeded 
wonderfully. For a time, he found it hard to gain the good will of 
his fellow clerks. No little amount of jealousy had to be overcome. 
His money, however, succeeded, and he became chummy with all 
the men in the office. After he had bought the good will of these 
people he became indispensible to them. No jollification, no party or 
picnic was complete without him. He was the life and soul of every 
gathering. His stories were the best; so were his cigars and the 
drinks he ordered for the crowd. He could not walk a block with- 
out meeting somebody he knew. The very first question would 
be: "What will you have?" And then "Have another!" And so 
day passed after day. After he had been with the firm for a few 
years, he met with an accident and had to go to a hospital for some 
operation. Then it was found — to the surprise of all — that he had 
not saved a single penny. All that was left for him was to be 
placed in one of the wards for the city charges. His hundreds of 
friends vanished like smoke. Not a single one even inquired about 
him. His friends had no time to look him up; they had to find 
another fool at whose expense they could eat and drink. After 
many months, that seemed to the unhappy young man like so many 
years, he was able to leave the hospital. His position with the 



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firm was lost. His former friends knew him no longer. They 
knew he had no money and were afraid he might ask for a loan if 
they showed the least sympathy. Without means, without position, 
he had to take odd jobs. A cheap boarding house was all he 
could afford. He was down and out. He had neglected his parents 
in his spendthrift days and now in his distress he was ashamed to 
write to them, and so he went to pieces as fast as he could. 

One day some one called on me to help get up a little purse 
for this unfortunate young man. We got enough together to clothe 
him from head to foot, and bought him a railway ticket. What a 
home-coming it must have been for him to face his parents, broken 
in body and spirit! What a heartbreaking lesson this was for 
that young fellow! If he gets another good position, will he 
be the spendthrift that he has been in the past? The lesson 
should open his eyes. Experience, however, shows us that the 
moth will seek the flame no matter how often its wings are singed. 
It will hover near the fire till finally the fire kills it. 

The example of this unhappy young man should be a lesson to 
you. 

A spendthrift is never happy. When he will most need friends 
and money he will be without both. This young man might have 
lived like a gentleman and yet put aside thirty or more dollars a 
month. Instead of that all his money went to show people what a 
good fellow he was. And that is always expensive. He had been a 
spoiled child, and that is something hard to get over, no matter how 
severe the experience. 

There are two factors in the making of a spendthrift. One is 
an inordinate love of self. The selfish boy will want everything in 
sight. It matters little whether he is entitled to it, or whether he 
can afford it. His one idea is to get what he wants. 



THE SPENDTHRIFT 



"3 



The other is the inordinate desire to be prominent, to become 
popular. I do not wish to imply that the boy or young man should 
shun the society of others. A boy should mingle with his kind. He 
should make himself well liked by being pleasant and agreeable 
with all, kind and generous, prudent and pure. 

A boy without the experience of worldly ways, and still wishing 
to be popular, may not be aware of the fact that there are two 
kinds of popularity. There is popularity and popularity. After 
all, they are not so hard to tell apart. When a boy is popular among 
the good boys of the parish, when he is a natural leader for all 
that is good and noble in the Catholic boy, when he gains the esteem 
and good will of the rest of the Sodality, and others gladly follow 
him because they recognize his good qualities ; — then you have the 
right brand of popularity. That kind of popularity is genuine. 
It is one of the many rewards of a good, clean life. 

If, however, popularity takes its source from the opinions of the 
evil minded who acclaim him as the best man, who sets up the 
most drinks and most cigars and tells the worst stories, — then 
we know that it is not the right brand. Popularity, then, is 
judged by its source. It is either good or bad. To be good and 
genuine it must find its source in the opinion of well meaning 
people; it is bad, if it finds its source in the praise of those of ill 
repute. 

The spendthrift will be satisfied to gain the popularity of idlers 
and loafers. Since he cannot earn popularity by excellent conduct, 
he will buy it, by being what the world calls, — a good fellow. He 
makes a fool of himself by wasting his income that people 
may slap him on the shoulder and tell him what a good fellow 
he is. 

Truly, the spendthrift pays an awful price for what doubtful 



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pleasures he gets out of this life. He not only sacrifices his 
earnings, but his future, his career, his happiness. When old age 
overtakes him, it finds him without means. It happens frequently 
that even relatives ignore and disown such men. Visit the poor- 
houses and you will discover that fully two-thirds — if not more — 
of the inmates, now depending upon charity, were, in their former 
years, people of some means. But they spent their money as 
quickly as they made it. And now, when they might be well off and 
live comfortably, they depend upon charity for the bread they eat, 
and for the roof that shelters them. 

Therefore, be wise in time. Despite the approval of those whose 
only object is to find an easy mark at whose expense they can 
eat and drink and smoke, remember that you will not always 
remain young and strong and healthy. The time will come when 
you will be old and feeble. To depend upon the charity of others at 
that stage of life will by no means be happiness or comfort. 

It will be far more prudent for you to learn to deny yourself a 
pleasure here and there, at the present time. Do not spend your 
money for trifles. If you do not learn to deny yourself little 
pleasures now, the time will come when you will be compelled to 
deny yourself the comforts of old age. And I think you will agree 
that to deny ourselves unnecessary things now of our free will is a 
good deal less unpleasant than to be compelled to deny ourselves 
necessary things when we most need them in our old age. 



THE HAPPY BOY 



115 



XIX. The Happy Boy 

My dear Boys:- — If you wish to be prudent in selecting your 
friends, you will not judge a boy by the clothes he wears, nor by 
the money he may jingle in his pockets. Neither wealth nor 
fashion are among the requirements of true friendship. We 
desire that a friend shall stand by us in our need, and that we may 
learn from him good qualities of which we may be deficient. If, 
then, you look for a true friend you will select one of whom you 
are sure that he has a noble heart. 

As the sick man longs for health, so do we long for happiness. 
We like a happy boy; we like to make him our friend. 

No doubt you know some such boys. There is no reason why 
you should not be one of those happy boys, spreading the sunshine 
of gladness and good-w-ill wherever you go. 

What is required to make a happy boy ? 

Money does not make people happy. I have known many wealthy 
people whose troubles increased as their wealth increased. Many a 
poor man enjoys his meal much better than the wealthy man 
who has the choice of the daintiest dishes. A drink of water 
tastes the same whether you drink it out of a tin cup or a jeweled 
vessel. Is it not strange that, in spite of all our efforts and of all 
the boasted wisdom of the world, true happiness is so hard to find? 
And yet happiness can be found if we look for it in the right 
place. Some try to find happiness in the possession of vast sums 
of money; others think they can find it only in the boisterous com- 
pany of the vulgar and wicked; others think happiness consists 
in honors, in titles and offices, the high positions of the world; 



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ii6 CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 

others look for happiness in all kinds of excesses. These seekers 
after happiness, when arriving at the end of their lives, find 
themselves even further away from true happiness than when 
they started out. If you seek happiness in vanity, money or 
honors, or even sin, you will be as much disappointed as the count- 
less millions that sought happiness in these things before you. 

The secret of happiness lies in two things: contentment, and 
innocence. 

God wants us to be happy, both here and beyond. That is 

why He has created us. Nor does He want us to be groping in 
the dark. He has outlined a way for us that will lead us to happi- 
ness both here and beyond. All we need to do is to follow the 
path God has marked out for us. The way of God is the way 
to true happiness. 

You will know the happy boy at first sight. He has a smile 
that knows nothing of a sneer; he is cheerful without being vulgar; 
pleasant, without being ostentatious; his words will be without a 
sting. Others may be richer, stronger, or more influential. That 
does not bother the happy boy. Others may be more talented, 
more successful; he is glad of their prominence. And the reason 
of it all is that the happy boy has contentment and tries to make 
the best of what he has. It is a wise saying that "if you cannot 
have what you like, like what you have." 

The happy boy will always be able to look you straight in the 
face. He has nothing that he must try to hide from you. 

Look out for the boy who cannot look you in the eyes. When 
a boy cannot look into your eye, it is almost a sure sign that 
he has sacrificed the purity of his heart for a silly, passing 
pleasure. All the money, all the honors, all the pleasures of this 
world can not bribe a guilty conscience. Boys with a guilty con- 



THE HAPPY BOY 



117 



science have their guilt written upon their foreheads. Ask them 
to be happy; they cannot. 

You have heard me tell you much about the holy Will of God. 
Its importance has been shown to you in many different ways. 
A diamond has many little anfi^les. Each one of them has a light, 
color and sparkle of its own. The holy Will of God resembles 
a diamond. At each of its many angles we see a new light and 
charm we never noticed before. And we see a new light in the 
holy Will of God when looking at it from the angle of happiness. 

It is the holy Will of God to give to each human being certain 
gifts and certain responsibilities. As our Lord told in one of His 
parables, God gives five talents to one, two to another, and only 
one to a third. To each He gives according to his capacity. 
It would be a hopeless task to try and make a quart measure hold 
a bushel of apples. In distributing His gifts, God is guided by 
His infinite wisdom. He knows our capacity for work, for suffer- 
ing and responsibility, far better than we. He has weighed our 
strength and capability, and has given us neither more nor less 
than we can well stand. 

The happy boy understands this. If God has given him only 
one talent, he will not look with ill-will and envy at another 
who has received five, but feel content and happy, realizing that 
if God has seen fit to confide to him only one talent, his responsibil- 
ities are correspondingly small. 

It has been said that the world is a stage and we are the actors. 
Our little dramatic club is a little picture of this world. 

When selecting a play, to be given for the benefit of the parish, 
I must consider the various parts that the play contains and also 
the members of the club. There will be funny parts and heavy 
parts, large parts and others that may have no more than one or 



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two lines. Now some of our amateurs may be good for a light 
role, a comedy part, others may do well in a heavy part. Some 
member may be good at selling tickets, another in getting advertise- 
ments for the program. And so on. Would the play be a success 
if I gave the comedy part to one who can only play a grave part, 
if I made the one who can get advertisements play the clown, and 
make the tragedian solicit advertisements ? A play can be a success 
only if the parts are assigned according to fitness. And so it is 
in the world, in which God makes each one of us play a part. 
Some have a leading part, others may have hardly anything to 
say. Some play comedy parts, others undertake to suffer in heavy 
parts. 

When tempted to discontent we should look beneath us. It 
is true, there may be many above us. But there are as many, 
if not more, that have received even less than we. If these, 
too, are asked to be content with their lot, we surely should be. 

It is a mistake for people to think that contentment means 
idleness. The man who received one talent was by no means 
content when he simply buried the little treasure. Contentment 
does by no means exclude proper ambition. The man of one 
talent was not supposed to earn two or five or more, like the 
others who were given more. Had he had enough ambition to 
work with that one talent to gain even one more, his reward 
would have been as great as the reward of the others. Content- 
ment does not mean idleness. 

To be content means to work faithfully with the gifts God has 
been pleased to bestow; it means, not to crave for more than God 
has deemed prudent to grant, and not to look with envious eyes 
upon the gifts or talents of others. 

The other requirement for happiness is innocence. 



THE HAPPY BOY 



119 



Look how beautifully the sunlight is reflected from the pure 
waters of a lake. How the water glistens in the sun as though 
the waves were melted gold! An unsightly swamp does not shed 
that brilliance. In like manner, a pure and innocent soul reflects 
the peace and beauty of God in its life. The clearer the water 
the deeper will the light of the sun penetrate it. The purer the 
soul, the more profound will be its peace and happiness. Looking 
into the eyes of an innocent boy you look deep into his soul, and 
there is not a corner or hiding place that he is afraid of showing. 
He has nothing to fear, nothing to hide. But one cannot look 
very deep into swampy, foul water. The swampy water is cov- 
ered with filth that prevents the sunlight from entering. It is 
a breeding place for disease and contamination. The eye of the 
guilty boy resembles that swamp. The sunlight of grace is pre- 
vented from entering his soul by the filth of his sins. His soul 
becomes a breeding place for vice. 

The very fact that he tries to conceal something betrays such 
a boy. This constant dread of betraying himself, the constant 
effort of concealing makes the life of the guilty boy miserable. 
He may have the grandest mansion to live in, the finest clothes 
to wear, and yet he would gladly give you all these, if by their 
exchange he could again be a happy boy. 

By all means, then, be happy boys. 

First of all, be content with the position and condition in v/hich 
God has seen fit to place you. Be not deceived by people who 
promise to create a heaven upon earth contrary to the laws of 
God. If God had seen fit to make all people rich and brilliant 
and prosperous, and if such had been for the best of mankind, 
be sure He would have arranged it so. 

Be content with the gifts God has given you; strive to work 



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out the salvation of your soul as God wants you to. Spread 
cheerfulness and gladness all about you as the sun sheds its light. 

Keep your heart free from the stain of mortal sin, especially 
from the worst of all, sins against holy purity, by avoiding every 
danger to fall into them. 

Then, indeed, you will be happy boys, you will be a source of 
joy and consolation to your parents and friends, you will be an 
honor to your Church and to your Country, and the pride of God 
and of His holy angels. 



THE CHRONIC KICKER 



121 



XX. The Chronic Kicker. 

My dear Boys:— You have, no doubt, come across that ob- 
noxious specimen of humanity called the chronic kicker. And, 
when it is at all possible, you will try to avoid him. Usually, the 
chronic kicker is a lean, sullen-looking fellow who has fault to 
find with every one he meets and everything he sees. If he plays 
his part well, he may, for a time, be considered a clever but much 
abused man. But soon it is discovered that he is nothing more 
than a false alarm. He is not taken seriously; though he thinks 
he should be. The chronic kicker is unreasonable and disagree- 
able. We are all aware of that. And, since it is so easy to find 
fault let us be on our guard not to join the ranks of chronic 
kickers. 

To understand the chronic kicker in all his ways and workings, 
let us take him apart — figuratively speaking — to study his com- 
ponent parts. 

First, there is his mind. 

The chronic kicker has a very exalted and exaggerated opinion 
of his importance and his ability. He finds himself, he thinks, the 
only man of honor and righteousness among a lot of thieves, 
scoundrels and fools. He feels that, if it were not for him, the 
whole world would probably go to the dogs. But some kind 
providence has placed him in this world at the proper time and 
place and he will set the world right, he will save the world from 
the inevitable ruin to which it would come unless he stood in 
the way of its destruction. He finds fault with all parties and 
and all men and there is no other right way than his. In his 



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conceit, the chronic kicker imagines that he has cornered all the 
intelligence of the world. There may be many others that can 
look through a ladder as well as he; but he is too conceited to 
admit even that much. 

His conceit prevents him from knowing what is imperfect in 
himself and what is perfect in others. 

Then, there are his eyes. 

The eyes of the chronic kicker are deceiving. They cannot see 
his own faults though they be legion ; but the least fault in others, 
be it ever so small, will never escape them. His eyes are like 
the telescope that brings remote objects to his particular notice. 
When told of his own faults, he reverses the telescope to make them 
appear small and of no importance. He sees no beauty in all 
the wide world. Everything passes before him as in review, 
and in each and all he sees nothing but imperfection, hypocrisy, 
and every fault and blemish of which a degraded race can be 
guilty. 

Then, there are his ears. 

The ears of the chronic kicker are open at all times to listen 
to tales about the faults of others. The backbiter and the slan- 
derer are friends of the chronic kicker. But his ears are like- 
wise open for flattery. He drinks in every word of cajolery as 
eagerly as one who has suffered thirst drinks water. The flat- 
terer is the one man, the chronic kicker feels, that has enough 
good judgment to appreciate him. 

If one, however, dares to speak a kind word in behalf of an- 
other those ears are deaf. And one might as well speak to a 
lifeless statue as to the chronic kicker if one dares to hint at the 
existence of a few faults. To argue with the chronic kicker in 
order to convince him of his errors is as hopeless a task as wash- 



THE CHRONIC KICKER 



123 



ing a crow to make it look white. Truth and the chronic kicker 
are not on speaking terms. 

Then, there is the tongue of the chronic kicker. 

That tongue is poisoned and will have nothing good to say 
of anybody or anything. All the wicked news the ears have taken 
in passes through a vicious imagination, and is given out as 
gospel truth. This slanderous tongue wags from morning till 
night to inform the world of manifold and glaring wrongs. To 
change the monotony, the chronic kicker will on the other hand 
spare no efforts in self-praise; he is prepared to show that he is 
the one true and perfect being in the world and will demonstrate 
that, if the world will only accept him as its guide, philosopher 
and friend, he will reform the entire creation; if his advice is 
heeded in time, he can change all things to the better in the 
twinkling of an eye. 

Then, there is the memory of the chronic kicker. 

It readily forgets any good which people do; but the many 
little foibles and faults and shortcomings are never to be for- 
gotten. He is ready to prove that you and the world in general 
are going from bad to worse. 

The will, too, of the chronic kicker is perverted. 

If his will were directed toward right and truth, that would 
interfere with his hobby and conceit. As he is blind and deaf to 
truth it does not suit him. His will is not directed to right and 
reason. 

And then there is the "nerve" of the chronic kicker. 

He has enough "nerve" to last a dozen normal men throughout 
their lives. Nothing is beyond him. The weather, politics, his 
foreman at the shop, his parents at home, all come in for his 
censure. Nothing can be said or done but he knows better. Since 



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the world has blundered along for so many thousands of years, 
it is just about time for him to come to the rescue and save the 
world in spite of itself. Had he lived at the time God created 
the world, he might have given even God valuable advice. But 
God did not have the chronic kicker with Him when He created 
the world and so we must be content with what it is. Whatever 
you may say or do, the chronic kicker will imagine something 
better, or, failing in his imagination, he will point out to you 
the many faults of your way of doing things and tell you that you 
are wrong anyhow. You are not entitled to achieve anything. The 
reformation of this wicked world belongs to the chronic kicker. 

He mistakes nerve for brains, but no power on earth can con- 
vince the chronic kicker of his folly. 

Boys full of ardor and ambition oftentimes swell the ranks of 
the chronic kickers unknowingly and unintentionally. 

It may be some abuse at home, perhaps, some injustice in the 
shop, some little thing that went wrong due to some misunder- 
standing, and the youth feels himself misjudged and underrated. 
In mistaken zeal such a boy comes to think the whole world will 
go to perdition unless he sets things right. As a result we have 
another chronic kicker. 

At fifteen, a boy usually sees so much injustice and wrong in 
this world, he cannot understand how the world gets along as 
well as it does. He is fully determined, so far as he is able, to 
straighten out things. At twenty, he finds he knows all that can 
be known. He cannot explain the indifiference and lethargy of 
the many floating with tlie tide; and resolves to make a heroic 
stand against the tide. At thirty, he begins to think that there 
are a few things that have escaped his observation. Gradually 
he begins to modify some of his radical opinions and he sees a 



THE CHRONIC KICKER 



125 



good point here and there that he has not noticed before. At 
forty, he understands that instead of realities he has been fight- 
ing shadows all along. Human nature appears to him vastly 
different from what he had imagined. In making allowance for 
the weakness of human nature he sees much that is good. And 
then, as his horizon widens, he begins to see lofty ideals, noble 
characters, self-sacrificing souls where formerly his narrow vision 
saw nothing. At fifty, the world is not half as bad as he thought 
it was. At sixty, he thinks the world is plenty good enough for 
anybody and quietly laughs over his folly of former years. 

One can hardly expect that the judgment and experience of 
a boy of fifteen would be as ripe as that of a man of fifty or 
sixty years. That is why you should let yourselves be governed 
by patience and prudence. To reinforce your faulty judgment 
with conceit will only make matters worse for yourself. Our 
judgment is imperfect and we are all too prone to judge things 
by outward appearances. Appearances are oftentimes misleading. 
To judge properly the good or bad in people we would have to 
consider many circumstances, motive or intention, degree or lack 
of knowledge, the bringing up, the environment, the passions, 
human frailty and a thousand and one conditions that go toward 
making an act good or evil. And since we are unable to know 
all of these conditions, our dear Lord wisely told us: "Judge 
not lest you be judged." Only God, the searcher of our hearts, 
is able to fully know us and to judge us fairly and honestly. 

To avoid being classified with the chronic kicker always bear 
in mind that you and your fellow-men are human, that we are 
at best little bundles of inconsistencies, and that things will go 
wrong sometimes in spite of best intentions. Look at the dark 
side of human nature if you must, but don't forget to look also at 



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the bright side. It will often be bright enough to make you forget 
the other side. Be generous enough to have a kind word even for 
those who have fallen. Where others may rejoice with the devil 
over the downfall of a soul, where the uncharitable view with sus- 
picion all the rest of mankind, you should have a word of pity 
for the man who fell and a prayer for his soul that it may find 
its v/ay to the Divine Throne of Mercy. 



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127 



XXI. The Gentle Boy 

My dear Boys :— No doubt you have often heard the word "gen- 
tleman." Two distinct words are united to form this one word. 
The idea we derive from the word "man" is that of something 
strong and pov/erful. The word "gentle" conveys the idea oi kind- 
ness and of restraint. And so, by placing these two words together, 
we express our idea what a man should be — a gentleman. 

If a man were to make his way purely by his brute force he 
would not be unlike the proverbial bull in the china shop. But 
God wants us not only to be men, — but gentlemen. We must use 
our force and strength not as brutes having no higher law to guide 
them, but as men guided by a spiritual law. We must be possessed 
of a still greater power or force controlling our animal power. The 
exercise of this higher, spiritual force, that of itself should be 
stronger than our bodily, physical forces, enables us to curb and 
check ourselves. We are not losing any strength, but, on the con- 
trary, are conscious of a still greater strength of a higher order when 
able to restrain ourselves, when able to check the force of our 
passion. And in governing, directing, and curbing our animal 
strength by the nobler strength of the soul we become what God 
wants us to be, — ^gentlemen. 

To arrive at a proper understanding of this important word, it 
will be advisable to explain in the first place what the word does 
not stand for, and so do away with any false notions we may 
have about it. 

To be a gentleman it is not necessary to follow the latest styles, 
wear patent leather shoes, rainbow-colored socks, and all the other 
trimmings. Such things may be good enough for a dummy in a 



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clothing store, or a brainless dude. Some think that to be a gentle- 
man one must be a sissy. But an overgrown baby is a poor apology 
for a man. Others have the mistaken idea that a gentleman must 
have no more backbone than a dishrag, tolerating and permitting 
wrong, for fear he might injure the feeling of some brute. Such 
conduct, however, is cowardice, and a thing most heartily despised 
by a true gentleman. If our passions and animal strength are 
stronger than the powers of our soul, we will be either bullies or 
cowards, according to the advantages from either standpoint. Hence 
neither expensive clothes, nor polished manners, nor the strength 
of a Sampson, nor money, are necessary conditions for being a 
gentleman. 

To be gentlemen we must have a soul stronger and nobler than 
our body. The body must not be master of the soul ; the soul must 
govern the body. Only then, when the soul is able to govern and 
direct the forces of the body, when it can check and control our 
animal passions, are we entitled to receive the highest title under 
the sun — the title of gentleman. 

And you, boys, to become gentlemen in later years you must be 
"gentleboys" at the present time. There is an old saying: "You 
cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." I know every one 
of you will want to be a gentleman in later years. To become a true 
gentleman you cannot begin training any too soon. 

How are you to go about in this training? 

From day to day you grow in size and strength of body. From 
day to day you realize that you can do more, and do better, than a 
few months ago. Now this very growth and increasing strength of 
body is not without its dangers. Because you realize your strength 
you may be easily made to think that all things are in your power 
and at your mercy. Because you realize your strength, you may 



4 



THE GENTLE BOY 129 

think you can handle things and people as you like, or crush them 
when you will. 

Although your growth in strength and power has its dangers it 
would be folly to check or dwarf it. You cannot remain children 
forever. You must grow. You must also use all reasonable means 
to promote your strength and health and growth. But while you are 
doing this you must not overlook the development of the soul. The 
reason why the quality and number of gentlemen is low at the 
present time is that we have so many men with giant bodies and 
dwarfed souls. 

In developing bodily strength, do not overlook the soul. Bear 
in mind that, as your bodily strength grows from day to day, your 
soul must not only keep pace but even be stronger than the body. 

You may know from your own experience how hard it is to keep 
two boys from trying to beat each other. They will wrestle and 
tumble, and jump and box, and race, to see who of them is the 
stronger and more skilful. Each one will try his best to show that 
he is the superior in one or more sports. 

The same is to be said of body and soul. Our body will want 
to be the stronger of the two and make the soul do its bidding. The 
soul will want to have its own way. The body will put up the claim 
that it is stronger and that might is right. The soul will object 
and the stronger of the two will win. 

I know you have in the past been mixed up in these fights, fights 
of body against spirit. Who came out ahead? If your soul has 
lost in every count something is wrong. You must never permit 
your soul to be weaker than your body. 

But, some will say, how can we ever train our souls? How can 
we get at the soul ? Let me explain. 

We must develop and strengthen the faculties of our soul by 



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exercising them just as we develop the muscles of our arms or 
legs by exercise. There is mental culture as well as physical culture. 

The soul has three faculties, memory, understanding and will. 
These three faculties must be trained by mental exercise, as mus- 
cles are trained and developed by physical exercise. When you 
went to school, you began to train particularly your memory and 
understanding. The will is equally as important as the other two 
faculties, but oftentimes receives the very least training. For that 
very reason the brightest people are very often the saddest of 
failures. The most brilliant minds at times go stray because, by 
lacking will power they lack the proper balance of their mental 
equipment. You may have a memory so retentive that you can 
memorize Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, your understanding 
may be so vast that you can master every art and science and 
language, and yet, — if you have no will power you wiH be a rank 
failure. 

There was never a wiser man than Solomon. He had a saintly 
father, v/as brought up as good children should be, he was a 
model young man, and the first years of his reign gave promise 
of years of blessing and prosperity for the land. But he neglected 
the training of his will. He became fickle, gradually turned away 
from God, erected temples to pagan gods to please his friends, 
offered sacrifices to idols of stone, and even dragged his people 
down with him. 

You see, then, how necessary it is to train our will. 

It will be natural for bodily strength to dwindle with age. But 
the soul, being immortal, must be kept in training up to the last 
moment of our life. If we permit the will to grow weak it will 
never be able to check and restrain and control the passions of our 
body. 



THE GENTLE BOY 



The question now is: How to train the will. I may be able to 
better explain this by an example. When you go to the grocery 
to buy sugar you do not hold up your hat and say fill this hat. 
You ask for sugar by the pound. When you ask the distance of 
one city from another you are not satisfied when told it's far, or 
very far; you want to know how many miles. And so we have 
measures and weights for all things. And these measures and 
weights are regulated and determined by standard measures and 
weights kept by the Government. From time to time officers of 
the Government will go and inspect the shops and stores to see 
that the measures and weights by which they sell agree with the 
standard weights and measures kept at Washington. And so it 
happens that the inch, yard, mile, ounce, and pound, and pint, and 
bushel are exactly the same from New York to San Francisco. 

In a similar manner we have an official rule or measure for our 
will. If our will agrees with that measure we know it is correct. 
And the rule by which we measure our will is nothing else than 
the holy Will of God. This holy Will is the standard by which 
we learn whether we are right or not. 

The holy Will of God stands for purity, for piety, for obedience 
and every other virtue. If our will is correct, it will stand for the 
very same virtues. The holy Will of God forbids every sin, even the 
very least, and so our will must measure up to the holy Will of 
God by being opposed to every sin. 

Knowing thus the measure by which you must gauge your will, 
it remains for you to train the will. The opportimities will not 
be lacking. 

Your body will want to have this or that pleasure, it will want 
to have an amount of ease and of self love. Your passions, the 
animal nature of man, will vvant to have their desires gratified. 



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They may crave revenge for some slight, real or imaginary, some 
evil thought will demand acceptance, pride or envy may want to 
possess your mind. Then, with the grace of God, comes the right 
will. The body will fight against the spirit. The -will, however, 
measures up the demands of the animal passions and learns that 
they do not agree with the requirements of the holy Will of God. 
The will knows that God forbids sin and commands holiness. 

Again, there are numberless opportunities for practising virtues. 
There are times when the virtue of piety, of purity, of obedience, 
of humility or of patience, can be exercised. They may not please 
or favor the inclination of bodily ease. Our will, in measuring up 
to the holy Will of God, learns that these very virtues are pleasing 
and right in His sight. There remains nothing else for our will 
to do than abide by the standard rule of the holy Will of God. 
Our animal passion may fight against being compelled by the 
will; they will not want to submit, for our body will want to 
govern the soul as the soul is determined to govern the body. 
Which should win this struggle? The soul, of course. 

Grow strong and healthy in your body, by all means. But do 
not forget that bodily strength is not noble unless guided by a 
higher and righteous strength, the strength of soul. The noblest 
strength is restraint. 

Be "gentleboys" by properly controlling your passions and your 
animal strength, so that in later years you may be true gentlemen. 



THE TOUGH 



133 



XXII. The Tough 

My dear boys: — ^There is a certain class of boys who seem to 
have but one object in life, and that is to lean up against the walls 
of the saloon at the corner and thereby keep them from toppling 
over. Of course, this is hard work and must yield some reward. 
And so these boys watch for "easy marks" at whose expense they 
can get free drinks. While waiting and watching for them, these 
toughs keep the sidewalk in a filthy condition by flooding it with 
tobacco juice, and molest girls and young women with impertinent 
remarks and foul jests. 

So long as these boys have their parents to fall back on for 
board and lodging they are more or less harmless. But if this 
source of supplies ceases for one reason or another, and as they are 
too lazy to work and too proud to beg, they often have 
recourse to stealing and all kinds of dirty work to make a living. 
From that time on, they begin to gather experience, and they are soon 
able to state which jail is the easiest and which prison the most 
severe. A few weeks or a few months of liberty are generally 
followed by as many months or years in prison. 

And to replace the older toughs who have become burglars 
and crooks, there is always a fresh supply of would-be toughs, 
ready to walk the same road. The walls of the saloon are safe 
from falling, for as soon as one shift is promoted to jail, another 
takes its place. Another set of loafers courts the same disgraceful 
fate for the sake of a few free drinks. 

The tough does not like work. If by some chance he does take 
a job, he either quickly gives it up again or he is sent away because 



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he is too careless and lazy to be of any use. In the meantime, the 
tough boy grows up to the years of manhood. In these years he 
will lose his parents and find himself without a roof to shelter 
him. It may be that he inherits a few hundred dollars that his 
thrifty parents have saved by denying themselves many a pleasure. 
But the fool and his money are soon parted. It took the parents 
years of labor to save that little fortune; they deprived themselves 
of many good things, even of ease and of comfort, that their chil- 
dren might have a start in life. The unfortunate tough, however, 
squanders this hard-earned money in a short time and he finds 
himself worse off than before. The money has wetted his hunger 
for more. He has discovered new wants and likes and is bound to 
satisfy them at any cost. Then the tough becomes a thief. 

Running water is not a breeding place of germs that breed 
disease. It is in stagnant swamps where the germs that spread 
malaria, typhoid and yellow fever are produced. 

In a similar way vice has little chance of finding shelter in those 
who are busy with work. Industrious people find little time to 
pay attention to the lure of sin. Their mind is too much occupied 
with the work before them. 

To keep the mind occupied with our work is the best means of 
keeping the devil at a distance. Not a single one of the countless 
thousands of our Saints was an idler. All of them were hard 
and faithful workers in their various vocations. 

In still and stagnant waters, however, one poisonous insect may 
deposit thousands of eggs. The sloth of the water favors their 
development, and these pests will gradually infect the whole place. 
The evil suggestion which the devil deposits in an idle mind finds 
a fine breeding place. It will thrive and spread. Evil thoughts 
will create evil desires, the desires will lead to actions. The devil, 



THE TOUGH 



135 



indeed, loves nothing more than idleness, though he himself is 
anything but idle. 

From this example you will understand that the tough is more 
exposed to temptations of all sorts than the boy who is a faithful 
worker. His love of idleness makes the tough unfit for the struggle 
with temptations. His mind and heart will become a breeding place 
for sin. As a swamp contains countless varieties of vicious insects 
and poisonous germs, so will the mind of the tough contain the 
germs of every vice. 

Hence we find the tough foul-mouthed. 

His words will not only be coarse or vulgar, they will be sinful. 
He has no regard for purity; he has no respect for any one; no 
respect for authority of any kind; there is no bit of sentiment or 
feeling in him. Nothing but the club of a policeman will be able 
to stop him from casting insults and indecent remarks at those 
passing by; he will curse and abuse that most holy Name at whose 
sound all knees should bend. If the mouth speaks of the abundance 
of the heart, the heart of a tough must indeed be vile. 

The tough becomes a victim of intemperance. He began taking 
the first steps towards that vice by hanging around saloons when 
he should have been working. This vice begets others. The craving 
for drink will become so irresistible that, if he cannot get it by fair 
means, he will get it by foul means. It has happened that toughs 
killed a man for a few coppers with which to buy a drink. 

Homeless, friendless and moneyless, but still craving for drink, 
and for the gratification of other passions that drink has bred in 
him, he finds himself compelled to steal to satisfy his craving. 
Little thefts will not satisfy him, and he will try to make bigger 
hauls, even at the risk of taking the life of his victim. And, as the 
moth hovers around the flame regardless of singed wings until it 



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pays with its life for its heedlessness, so will the tough not learn by 
his sad experiences, until a life sentence or the gallows make an 
end of his vicious career. 

A short time ago, a young man was lynched in one of our western 
cities. He was one of those who did not want to work. Wherever 
there was easy money in sight he was on the spot. So it happened 
that he was hired by the Anti-Saloon League as a private detective, 
although his past record was by no means favorable. In his eager- 
ness to gather evidence he killed a man. The murdered man was 
so well thought of that the indignation of the people of that town 
knew no bounds. The jail was broken open and the unfortunate 
young man was taken out and hanged. When the lynchers had 
placed the rope around his neck, he asked permission to say a few 
words. The request was granted. "Let me warn the young men," 
he said, "from following my example. Don't be afraid of earning 
your living in an honest way." These were his last words. 

The life of this unhappy young fellow was cut short in his early 
twenties. Had he grown up to be an honest and industrious young 
man, he would now be alive and respected by all those that knew 
him. As it is, he had been a failure. He heaped disgrace upon the 
heads of a good father and a loving mother. What did it profit that 
boy to shirk work and become a tough? He paid the penalty of 
death. 

The tough can never be happy. 

Though the life of a tough may be ever so sad and repelling, 
there is still the temptation for all of you — to follow just this kind 
of a life. Consequences will be disregarded, as they have been in 
the past. The very brightest of you is as much exposed to the 
danger of becoming a tough as the rest of you. One will find even 
university graduates among burglars and crooks. I was greatly sur- 



THE TOUGH 



137 



prised the other day to hear a most disreputable-looking tramp 
address me in well chosen words : "My dear sir," he said, "I am in 
financial difficulties and any assistance from you would be gratefully 
appreciated." 

Nor is only the bright boy exposed to the temptations of a tough 
life ; you, working in your shops and factories, are exposed as much 
as the rest. The very fellow working at your elbow may be a tough. 
For some reason or other he may be working with you. He will 
have a story to pour into your ears about the ease and luxury of 
idleness, the drudgery of work, the injustice of the foreman, the 
dishonesty of the rich, and a thousand and one other woes and ills 
— mainly imaginary — intending thereby to make you waver in your 
love of work. The very next week this tough may be dismissed and 
another of his ilk may be working at your side. And hearing the 
same story from many, you, too, may be misled to think there is 
some hidden or secret charm about being an idle loafer. Bear in 
mind, therefore, once for all, that there cannot be any happiness in 
idleness and sin. 

So far I have mentioned idleness as the great factor in the make-up 
of the tough. But to idleness we must add recklessness. The tough 
has absolutely no regard for anybody or anything. He snaps his 
fingers at the laws of God and of the land ; he pays no attention to 
the voice of conscience ; he fears neither God nor the devil, and cares 
not for heaven or hell. An idle boy may be of harm only to himself ; 
he may ruin all his prospects of success and happiness; but if, to- 
gether with his idle habits, he has a reckless disposition, he is a 
danger not to himself only but to all others about him. 

The reckless boy betrays his evil disposition early by his contempt 
for the wishes and commands of his parents. And soon he will 
show the same contempt for the commands of all other authority. 



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You have, then, reason to be on your guard. Avoid even contact 
with the tough. Go your way and let the tough go his way. The 
very fact of coming in contact with a tough may cast a blight upon 
your life. A vile snail crawling over a leaf may not destroy it, but it 
leaves a slimy track across the leaf marring its former beauty. 

As for 3^our own conduct, never give way to idleness. Your ambi- 
tions may not be realized as quickly as you may desire; disappoint- 
ment and failure may make your work seem useless and bitter ; but 
others have overcome these difficulties and they merited a well-earned 
reward. If others could persevere, why not you? Keep up your 
courage, and your faith in yourselves, and you are bound to win at 
the end. 

And, finally, never become reckless. If you wish others to respect 
your rights you must respect the rights of others. 

Ships at times run upon hidden rocks. If they do not free them- 
selves the winds and the waves will batter them to pieces. 

So, too, many a man runs upon the rocks of adversity. If he 
ceases his efforts he will go to pieces. Such an unfortunate 
man is a menace to himself and to others ; he shatters his own wel- 
fare and the welfare of others, and, in the final crash, he will blame 
and curse God and man for the misfortune that is entirely of his 
own making. 



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139 



XXIII. True Friendship 

My dear Boys : — Do you remember how glad other children were 
to come and play with you when you had some new toys? For a 
while, at least, they would be able to enjoy your playthings as 
though they belonged to them. The time when other boys saw 
your new top, or wagon, or bat and ball, and asked that they might 
play with them was the dawn of friendship. Friendship does not 
cease when we put aside the toys of childhood. As years pass on, 
the necessity of friendship appeals to us all the more forcibly. It 
is our ambition to become equipped with all the good qualities 
that go to make a good, a perfect man. And, since we discover 
that we lack a number of good qualities in our make-up, it is the 
most natural thing for us to look around and find them in some- 
one else. If we are fortunate enough to discover such a person 
we feel ourselves drawn to him in friendship, since through the 
means of that sympathetic bond we share — at least indirectly — the 
qualities we lack and would like to call our own. 

Glittering toys brought you together when you were children; 
and, as children, you liked other children for the pleasure they 
offered you by letting you share their joys. Now you have noticed 
that life is not all play, that it means real hard work. And, while 
you feel the need of friendship all the more, you also learn to 
understand that it rests upon other foundations than mere enjoy- 
ment. 

You begin to know yourself and, if you are candid, you will 
admit that there are good qualities missing in you that you see 
in others. At times, you will be in need of advice; at other times. 



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of help; times will come when a kind word of encouragement will 
mean a great deal to you. You understand that you are far from 
having all the sources of strength you should have to be independent. 
You look around and study other boys to discover the good qualities 
that you need to perfect yourself. You find one boy who is a 
good, willing soul. Him you make your friend, that, if you should 
ever be in need of help, he may stand by you. You find another 
who is prudent and reliable and you make him your friend so that, 
when you are in any difficulty, he may advise you as to what you 
should do. You find another who is at all times cheerful and 
happy. No troubles seem able to cloud his smile, his cheerful 
disposition overcomes all obstacles. There are times, when you 
are discouraged and downhearted; times, when a kind word will 
mean a great deal to you. You make this happy boy your friend. 
When you are feeling blue and discouraged you desire to see him 
smile at you and make you forget your trouble. 

You see how prudent a boy is who knows himself and, knowing 
his shortcomings, selects friends whose good qualities make up 
for those he lacks. A locomotive is a great machine; but of what 
use is it if it lacks steam and coal, and a fireman and an engineer? 
It is of no use at all. The very stars would be dark, unknown 
bodies if it were not for the sun flooding them with light. 

In like manner, a man without friends is often helpless, useless 
and, at times, — dangerous. For that reason take care to steer 
clear of the boy who is without friends, — unless his lack of friends 
is due to a cause for which he is not to blame. Such a boy may 
be a stranger to most or all of you, because his parents have come 
here from some other city. This boy shows a good will by the 
fact that he joins the sodality. He may be slow to seek new friends 
because he cannot forget the old ones. Give such a boy a fair 



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deal. But you will find boys who are friendless though they may 
have grown up in the very block in which they live. Usually, the 
friendless boy will be the lad no one can get along with. He will 
be so conceited about himself, that he feels no need of friendship. 
He will take the advice of no man, and consequently makes blunders 
right and left. He thinks he knows it all, and only succeeds in 
making a fool of himself. He confides in no one, and suspects 
everybody. 

The friendless boy is not the only one against whom you must 
be on your guard. There is another about whom you do well to 
be careful. And that is the boy who is the friend of everybody. 

You may hear people praising a man saying of him that he did 
not have an enemy in the whole wide world. That compliment is 
often a very doubtful one. We cannot serve two masters. If you 
have enough backbone to call a foul-mouthed boy to task for 
his vulgar talk he will not call you a friend of his. If another 
boy, whom you know well, is getting the habit of missing holy 
Mass on Sunday and you talk to him kindly, asking him to come 
to church with you, he may tell you to mind your own business. 
He will hardly think of calling you his friend. Still, you may be 
able to convert both of them and make them feel ever grateful 
to you for your acts of kindness. For this reason you should be 
manly enough to speak up whenever prudence tells you that your 
words are in place. Where they will be of benefit in one case, 
they may not be heeded in ten other cases, and these boys and their 
followers will consider you as anything but a friend. You see, 
then, that the saying of being the friend of everybody must be 
taken with caution. It is often a pretty sure sign that the poor lad 
who is called the friend of everybody is a weak character. We 
cannot remain neutral when it is a question of right or wrong. 



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A weak character may be the friend of everybody, but he has 
the making of a poor friend, indeed. 

Besides bewaring of the boy who wants no friends and of the 
boy who is the friend of everybody, you must avoid counterfeit 
friendship as you avoid counterfeit money. With a little care 
you can tell both. You can recognize the counterfeit from true 
friendship by its improper motive. 

Just watch the boys ! Did you notice that a small boy is allowed 
to play with much bigger boys if he has a bat and ball? They 
make a fuss over him for the sake of that bat and ball. But, as 
soon as they can get along without the bat and ball of the little 
fellow, he is left out of any further games. They will find fault 
with him, they will tell him to go and play marbles. As long as 
they needed his bat and ball they were his friends. Here you see 
counterfeit friendship. 

Years roll on and these boys, who are friends only if they can 
profit by friendship, have grown to the age of manhood and 
seek other victims. The victim will be a jolly, good fellow — 
till his money is gone. Then the friendship comes to a sudden 
end. 

It stands to reason, then, that in the choice of friends you should 
exercise care and judgment. 

Never listen to or confide in a flatterer. His only object is to 
deceive you and to further his own plans and benefits. 

Never make a shiftless and lazy boy your friend. If his own 
parents cannot reform him, it will be a hopeless and thankless 
task for you. Far from reforming him, he may exert a harmful 
influence over you. 

Never make the disobedient boy your friend. If he disregard 
his duty to his parents, how can you expect him to respect your 



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rights! If he has no love for his own people, how can he have 
regard for you? 

True friendship, you must bear in mind, is nothing one-sided. 
It has its mutual obligations. It is not enough to pick out some 
one in whom you see a good quality, one that is lacking in your 
own character, but you must be able to show him that you are not 
without your good points which you are willing to share with him 
for his benefit. 

True friendship must be more willing to give than to take. 

True friendship will create a rivalry of generosity. In this 
spirit of generosity we begin to learn that giving is a greater pleasure 
than taking. And so, while our lives are made happy by giving 
and receiving, we make less of the troubles and sorrows of this 
world. 

Regarding friends, two chief points should guide your choice. 

In the first place, select your friends — other things being equal — 
from among those of our own faith. Though we should never 
lack in charity and kindness towards all men regardless of faith, 
of classes or color, or even of merit, the bond with which our holy 
Faith links us together should never be lost sight of. The Com- 
munion of Saints binds us together for time and eternity. It is 
plain, then, that, in the choice of friends, we should look to those 
of our own household first. Faith best teaches us our own short- 
comings. At the same time it directs our attention to others in 
whom a truly Christian life is manifest. This alone gives us count- 
less good lessons and inspirations. Faith makes us brothers of 
Christ, children of the heavenly Father. What, then, should be 
more natural than that all should be of one mind and heart ! Hence 
true friendship, like charity, rests best upon the foundation of our 
holy Faith. Friendship is a flower that may grow anywhere. But 



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it will bloom to best advantage, and bring forth richest fruits, if 
planted in the soil of our holy Faith. 

It may not be out of place to say even at this time, that, by 
seeking your friends from among our own fold, you avoid the 
danger of forming friendships that lead to a mixed marriage, and to 
the misfortunes that go with m.ost of them. 

The other suggestion regarding the choice of friends is this: 
Next to your parents, your own parish priest should be your 
dearest friend. The number of boys that know absolutely nothing 
of their priest except his name, and never speak to him except in 
the confessional, never see him except at the altar, is surpris- 
ingly great. It is a sad revelation of the lack of confidence 
and of trust that many boys have for the priest. The priest, 
however, is only too anxious to win the confidence of the boys; 
too glad to be of any help. That the priest can be of great help 
in many different ways goes without saying. His very position 
gives him prestige and influence the power of which is seldom fully 
appreciated. 

The claim of Columbus that the world is a globe was looked upon 
by most people of his time as too silly to be worthy of serious 
thought. He went from country to country seeking support. After 
countless humiliations he came to Spain. Here he won the friend- 
ship of a priest, an humble son of St. Francis. This same priest 
vouched for him at the royal court, the palace was opened to him 
and he was enabled to lay his plans and proofs before king and 
queen. They were favorably impressed with him, and he was 
given boats, provisions and men to set out upon the journey that 
ended with the discovery of a new world. Now if Columbus had 
despised the friendship of the priest as most people unfortunately 



TRUE FRIENDSHIP 145 

do, the probabilities are, he would not have been given the means 
to carry out his plans and discoveries. 

With the parish priest as his friend, a boy is bound to win 
success in his affairs, temporal and spiritual. 



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XXIV. Bad Company 

My dear Boys: — No doubt you have heard that where some 
one is sick with small pox a sign is put upon the door stating that 
the whole family is quarantined. No member of that family is 
allowed to leave the home, nor is anybody except doctor and 
priest allowed to enter that house, until the quarantine is re- 
moved. The reason that such precaution is enforced is to prevent 
the spreading of that disease into other homes. 

What a blessing it would be to have such a danger sign on 
the doors of houses where bad company is met! People are 
mortally afraid of diseases like small pox or yellow fever; in an 
epidemic they will flee from the city in which the disease is 
prevalent; people will flee from their friends and relatives, 
endeavoring to save their own lives. But no such precaution 
is taken against places and people that spread a more malicious 
disease — the disease of the soul. And yet bad company has 
caused more sorrow and suffering than all the epidemics put 
together. Hospitals, asylums for the insane, poorhouses and 
prisons, all give testimony to the ravages of bad company. 

Some few years ago, I knew a boy who had the misfortune of 
falling in with bad company. His father was a righteous man, 
his mother a model mother. Yet it seemed as though the peace 
and virtue of his home were not to the liking of this boy. He 
wanted to be free of every restraint, and, especially, did not like 
to work. One day, the boy instead of going to work, joined the 
idle crowd of other boys as fond of loafing as he was. They 
fell in with a couple of tramps, who talked so interestingly about 
their wanderings and about their free and easy life, that this boy 



BAD COMPANY 



147 



proposed to join their crowd, since he was only too glad to find 
a way of living without having to work. Without saying a word 
at home, he left that very same forenoon. A passing freight train 
carried the crowd away. 

You may imagine how his parents felt that evening waiting 
for him. The parents asked the neighbors but could get no in- 
formation. The next day the father went to the police station 
to have the police help him find out what happened to his 
son. But the boy could not be found. A week passed with- 
out news of the lost boy. It seemed as though the earth had 
swallowed him alive. His father had been in poor health, and 
all this worry hastened his end. 

In the meantime, the boy was loafing through the country. 
But, never having been away from home, and, also, because he 
found tramps and hoboes very different from the company to 
which he had been accustomed, he found the new life anything 
but a happy one. Homesickness and disappointment brought 
about the desire to return home and ask forgiveness. On the one 
hand, however, he was ashamed to write home telling his parents 
of his predicament ; on the other hand, he realized that the money 
needed to go home meant a little fortune. Finally he found an 
opportunity to board a freight train with a crowd of three others. 
Somewhere en route, however, the four tramps were discovered 
by the train crew, and it was also discovered that some of the 
freight had been opened. The four were at once arrested, and, 
after a speedy trial, all four were sent to the state prison. The 
boy, because it was his first offence, was given tw® or three 
years; the others got a longer sentence. 

About this time I was called to this boy's home. His father 
was very low. After I had administered the last Sacraments, 



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he drew a letter from b*^neath his pillow, asking me to read it. 
It was a letter from his boy written from the state prison. I could 
see in the poor man's ey^s his anguish about the boy's condition, 
and also his longing to s'ie the boy once more before death came. 
I tried to console the poor man as best I could and asked for 
the loan of the letter. I took it at once to a friendly judge, 
explaining to him all the circumstances. He then wrote to the 
authorities under whose jurisdiction the boy was, explaining the 
conditions, and the outcome was that the boy was pardoned. But 
he came home too late to find his father alive. 

I can still see before me the dying man calling for his son. 
He died with a prayer upon his lips for his lost boy. 

And now I want you to imagine yourselves in the place of 
that boy. Think of how he must have felt when thrown in 
with disreputable tramps of every sort of degradation. Think 
of how he felt when he was arrested and convicted ; think of how 
he must have felt in prison in the constant company of thieves 
and murderers; how he must have suffered under the severe 
discipline of the prison; how he felt when he wrote home telling 
about his shame, and finally, what a shock it must have been to find 
his father dead when at last he did come home. 

The family sold what little property they had and moved to 
another place, where the boy did not have to hide his head in 
shame. But he profited by his severe lesson, and now, I am 
happy to say it, he is a model young man. 

All this may sound to you like a story one may read in a 
story book, yet every word of it is true. You yourselves may 
have heard of similar examples. Possibly you may know of 
instances like to the one I have told you. Still, very few people 
are willing to learn from the lessons and experiences of others. 



SAD COMPANY 



149 



There is a certain spirit of gambling in every man. Though we 
know the odds are against us, we take the risk, hoping to be the 
lucky one in a hundred, in a thousand, to escape the evil con- 
sequences of our folly. 

Go to any prison and ask the inmates what brought them to 
their life of crime, and, if they will tell you the truth, they will 
say that it was bad company. Go to any hospital and ask to be 
taken to the ward where most loathsome sicknesses are treated. 
There you will find young people paying the death penalty for 
their sins against purity. Go to the asylums of the insane and 
you will find many who must trace their condition to the ex- 
cesses of their shameful lives. Go to the poorhouses, ask some 
of the old men there why in their old age they must depend 
upon charity, and — if they want to be truthful — they will have 
to admit that it is the final result of bad company. In their 
days they were young and foolish, found jolly good friends, went 
out with the boys to have a good time. Finally they were out of 
money and out of friends. Then they grew old and helpless, were 
unable to work and hence must end their days at the poorhouse. 
If they had led decent lives, they might now enjoy a happy home 
and grateful children would be their joy and consolation. If it were 
not for bad company, we might close up most of our prisons, 
asylums and poorhouses. 

Hence, my dear boys, since you know where bad company 
leads to beware of it. At times, parents place too much confidence 
in your judgment. Thinking you know all the harm bad com- 
pany can inflict, they give you a great deal of freedom. Never 
betray that confidence of your parents. 

Bad company is a temptation to which every boy is exposed. 
The boy staying at home will be exposed to the wiles of it. The 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



shop or factory in which you work will have plenty of bad com- 
pany. You will hear all kinds of talk about, or rather against, 
religion, against the authority of parents. These lads will tell 
you what a pleasure it is to be dishonest, untruthful, how much 
more profitable it is to go hunting or fishing on a Sunday instead 
of going to Holy Mass, and, not content with so much harm, 
they will pour the most deadly poison into your ear, telling you 
to forget the instructions you have received regarding holy 
purity. Still the boy living at home has some support. The ex- 
ample of his parents, brothers and sisters, his going to church, his 
Holy Communions will counteract the snares of the devil, pro- 
vided he is sincere. 

Great though such temptations are, the boy away from home 
has to meet even greater temptations. He has not the pious 
example of his dear ones to look up to, and he must depend upon 
himself. For that reason I always admire the boy who, when 
coming to stay in a strange place, makes it a point to look up 
the priest at his earliest opportunity. I have had several such 
boys come to the priestshouse, introducing themselves to me, tell- 
ing me where they are from and that they wish to come to 
church as they were accustomed to do at home. These boys 
may have their faults, as we all have: but I consider them as 
honest and manly fellows of whom God and His angels are 
proud. 

If, owing to circumstances, you must go from home to work 
elsewhere, let your first care be to look up the parish priest in 
whose locality you find work. He may be of great help to you 
in more ways than one. Possibly he may know of better paying 
work than you could find for yourself. 

From what has been said, you should take the warning to stay 



BAD COMPANY 



away from bad company. Either you are a little saint, or you 
are weak. In either case bad company is out of the question. For, 
granting you are a little saint, bad companions will have noth- 
ing to do with you. They do not stand for any kind of preach- 
ing. To mix with them, even for the object of bringing them 
around, will be useless. They will give you to understand that 
they will not listen to your talk. One never sees a white dove 
among black crows. If you are weak you have all the more 
reason to keep away from bad company. Your very weakness 
should be a warning to you. You should, and you do, know be- 
forehand that you will not be able to resist temptation. Why, 
then, enter temptation? You pray every day, "Lead us not into 
temptation." Why, then, should you seek temptations? One 
day we all hope for the bliss of being in the company of angels. 
We cannot prepare ourselves for this bliss by now seeking the 
company of devils. Hence, avoid bad company! 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



XXV. First Commandment 
Duties Towards the Holy Faith 

My dear boys: — We shall now begin to treat of the Ten Com- 
mandments, and we will endeavor to see what special bearing each 
one of them has for you at your time of life. You have seen be- 
fore this how duties grow with age, how responsibilities grow 
greater and heavier the older you grow. As children, you had few 
and easy obligations. Your minds were not fully developed, your 
strength was not fully ripened, and the trials and sufferings of the 
more mature age were unknown to you. Now, however, since you 
have advanced in years, you face new duties and responsibilities 
which in ten years from now will seem trifling in comparison with 
others you will have to answer to at that time. And so our duties 
grow. It must not be forgotten that graces grow, too, in propor- 
tion to the duties. No matter how heavy duties may seem, with 
the help of God we shall always feel that the yoke of Christ is 
sweet and His burden light. 

The benefits you should derive from these instructions are two- 
fold. In the first place, your attention will be directed to the dan- 
gers and pitfalls which, at your age, are fatal to so many. And, 
finally, by discussing these topics in a new light, you are given addi- 
tional suggestions, you will know the meaning of the Ten Com- 
mandments better, and will be able to examine yourselves more 
carefully when going to Confession. 

When speaking of the duties of a member of the Sodality, I men- 
tioned daily prayer as one of them. The instructions you received 
on this same subject before and since your first holy Communion 



FIRST COMMANDMENT 



53 



will, I hope, never be forgotten. Better still, I hope you will never 
lose sight of the resolution you made never to forget your daily 
prayers. Remain faithful to that rule! Daily prayer, however, is 
not the only obligation imposed upon us in the First Commandment. 
There is one regarding which you may hardly ever examine your 
conscience and that is the duty we owe to God on account of holy 
Faith. 

The most precious gift God has bestowed upon us is holy Faith. 
To teach us this holy Faith, our Divine Saviour had to come down 
upon earth. He had to walk from place to place teaching it, and 
for all His efforts and sufferings He drew upon Himself the im- 
placable hatred of the Jews. He was persecuted until He was 
made to die upon a cross like the worst of criminals. 

If it were possible to trace our ancestry up to the Reformation 
and beyond, most of us, if not all, might discover that we are the 
offspring of martyrs. In Germany, England, and Ireland, thou- 
sands upon thousands suffered persecution for the sake of Christ. 
They were robbed of house and home, were banished, put in prisons, 
or executed as criminals. Blood was shed in the Middle Ages in a 
manner more cruel and revolting than even in the early persecutions 
when the tormentors were misguided pagans who knew not God. 

All this suffering has been undergone for the sake of the same 
Faith which now, through the grace of God, is our blessed in- 
heritance. 

These two considerations show us what priceless gift our holy 
Faith is and how willing we should be at all times to defend our 
holy Faith, if need be, even with our blood. Countless others have 
given their life for this Faith. Should we think less of it than 
they? 



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To summarize our obligations towards our holy Faith let me say : 
we should know it, and show it. 

It is true, you learned your catechism from cover to cover; a 
pious mother taught you the very first lessons; a faithful parish 
priest spent years and years in preparing himself to teach you the 
way to Heaven. Then, in the course of time, a final and thorough 
explanation of our holy Faith was given you when you were prepar- 
ing to receive holy Communion for the first time. Since then you re- 
ceived special instructions by way of conferences, and general in- 
structions in sermons. All the instructions and sermons ever given 
are nothing else but an explanation of some one of the solemn and 
holy truths God has deigned to reveal to us. But, let me ask you, 
what do you remember of all the instructions you have received up 
to date? Possibly, you may be able to recall some little story that 
was given by way of example. The very application of it, how- 
ever, has escaped your memory. To learn in order to forget, 
means that all your efforts to stock your mind with knowledge has 
been a hopeless and thankless task. 

Are you still able to answer the ordinary questions that are asked 
of us by Protestants? If you are told that you adore the Virgin 
Mary, are you able to explain the diflference between adoration and 
veneration? If you are asked about indulgences, the Sacrament of 
Penance, holy Mass, and the like, are you able to give an intelligent 
answer? There was a time when you did know these answers. If 
now you do not know what to say, you cannot look these questions 
up any too soon. Who knows but you might be asked any of 
these questions this very day. We should at all times be ready to 
give a reason for the Faith that is in us. 

Ask a man why he is a Republican or a Democrat, and he will 
give you one reason after another why he belongs to this party or 



FIRST COMMANDMENT 



155 



that. Nor will he be satisfied without an effort to convince you that 
his party is the only party to which a man should belong. He will 
try to make you join his party. Now ask a man why he is a 
Catholic! What will he have to say! Will he be able to give his 
proofs, showing that there can be but one true Church, and that the 
Catholic Church is that one Church? Will he make any effort at 
all to make one single convert? "Why," he will say, "that is the 
business of the priest." Too many Catholics if asked why they are 
Catholics will have a puzzled look, and say they were brought up 
that way. And that is about all they will be able to say. 

It is a mistaken idea to think that only the priest is to know the 
Faith. It is not necessary for you to have the extensive knowledge 
of religious matters that is demanded of the priest ; yet the elemen- 
tary knowledge of religion should be possessed by all. 

If the plain people knew and showed their holy Faith to better 
advantage there would be more conversions. You boys, in your 
shops and factories and stores, reach the very people that will steer 
clear of a priest whenever they see one a block away. Every one 
of you should be a little missionary in his own way. But how can 
you be one though unless you know your holy Faith? 

There is no need of beating around a bush. We must admit a 
widespread ignorance about holy Faith. Every Sunday some part 
of our holy religion is explained to the people : and how little they 
worry over missing a whole series of sermons! At every one of 
your conferences some part of your religious duties is explained to 
you: and how easily a conference is missed. "He who is of God 
will hear the word of God." As to reading some book of instruc- 
tion, like "The Faith of our Fathers," "The Following of Christ" 
or other books explaining the holy Faith in an able manner — that is 
nowadays a scarcity. It is no longer fashionable to read such 



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books. In the meantime, however, some cheap and trashy novel is 
more fascinating. Yellow papers, ©heap magazines, the stage — all 
make one great, united effort to undermine Faith. Through these 
agencies people are given a wrong idea about religious matters. Sin 
is made to look like virtue, and virtue like foolishness. And, be- 
cause a Catholic, owing to his ignorance in matters of Faith, is unable 
to point out the mistakes of popular notions regarding our Faith, 
he begins to feel ashamed of his holy Faith. It is true, he still goes 
to church on Sundays, he receives the Sacraments from time to time, 
and he says his prayers, but all is done in a half-hearted way. He 
begins to think that sin is not so dreadful after all, and that all he 
ever learnt about God, Heaven and hell may be explained in more 
ways than one. He sins against holy Faith every day, hardly realizing 
the danger of his position. Some of his forefathers suffered im- 
prisonment, banishment and even death rather than betray their 
Faith ; and he — he is as ready to exchange it as one would a coat. 

Ignorance in matters of Faith, so far as it is due to neglect or in- 
difference, is sinful. A sensible boy who must admit his knowledge 
has grown a trifle rusty, should by all means try to regain the 
knowledge he had of his holy Faith when he left school. With a 
little care and diligence he can easily regain it, and even widen his 
knowledge. But instead of adding to their knowledge of holy 
Faith, what will most of them do ? They will destroy it by reading 
papers and books that make religion a mockery. 

From what has been said, you will easily understand that you are 
bound in conscience to have a practical knowledge of your holy 
Faith. The better you understand it, the better will you like it, 
and the more will you strive to live according to its rules. The less 
you know of your holy Faith, the greater is the danger of losing it. 

To know our holy Faith is only half our duty. We must also 



FIRST COMMANDMENT 



157 



show it. Our every day life must be the outward sign of the in- 
ward Faith. Nor is it enough to simply live up to our holy Faith ; 
we must confess our holy Faith in public whenever the glory of 
God or the salvation of our souls demand it. 

The world hates nothing more than a coward. In most cases it 
will be useless to hide our Faith. Our very conduct will reveal 
what we are. In many instances our very name will indicate our 
religion. 

This reminds me of a conversation I overheard some time ago at 
a hotel. It happened that during a convention of Freemasons I 
sat next to a table that was reserved for Masons. A party of five 
sat down, when one of the number saw another friend, and beckoned 
him to come to them. He was introduced to the other four as a 
fellowmason. The new party had a very pronounced Irish accent, 
we will call him Sullivan, though that was not his real name. After 
the introduction, one of the party said in a joking way : "You must 
have been a Catholic at some time, judging from your name!" 
"No, I never was," Sullivan replied. "But your name gives you 
away." Poor Sullivan had a hard time trying to convince his new 
friends that it was his father who had fallen away from the Church. 
Still he blushed and became embarrassed. I doubt very much 
whether his new friends believed him at all. The manner in which 
he was teased for being an ex-Catholic must have been anything but 
agreeable to him. 

The mistrust that even well-meaning Protestants have tovv^ards 
persons who are disloyal to their faith is easily explained. How can 
any man be true to his f ellowman when he cannot be true to his God ? 

Never be ashamed of showing your colors. You will be thought 
more of for that very reason. Your neighbors, your friends, your 
fellow workers and people you deal with, all know what you are. 



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It would be the height of folly, then, to try to hide your religion. 
And, after all, a religious conviction that is not worth showing is 
not worth having. 

Let me repeat, in conclusion, that you should know your holy 
Faith and be willing to live up to it, and should show it, so that in 
time Christ may not feel ashamed of introducing you to His 
heavenly Father. 



SUPERSTITION 



159 



XXVI. Superstition 

My Dear Boys : — Man is by no means an independent being. He 
is bound to depend upon other beings for his very life. As an 
infant, as a child, a boy, a man, — up to his very last breath — he 
must depend upon other beings for the food he needs and for the 
clothing to keep him warm. And in spite of all the help other 
created beings can offer him, he feels the need of the help of a still 
higher being to supply wants no other being has the power to 
satisfy. And this help can only come from God. 

By our faith we know that God is almighty, infinitely wise, loving, 
just and merciful, true and holy. Holy Faith teaches us to call 
Him our Father. As a father guides and directs his children, so 
our Heavenly Father guides and directs us in His own sweet way. 
It is the object of holy Faith to bring God and man closer together. 
On the one hand, holy Faith teaches us our destiny and our position 
towards our Heavenly Father: on the other hand, we learn what 
God is and what He expects of us. In other words, — Faith shows 
us our relation to God, and His to us. 

Faith teaches that without God we are as helpless as infants. 
And, in their eagerness to find help somewhere, people without 
Faith will have recourse to some senseless being and sign, from 
which they expect to receive the help that necessarily can only 
come from God. This, then, is the excuse for superstition. It 
means the transferring of the trust we should have in God to some 
senseless being or sign, that is unable to be of any help even to 
itself. 

A man of a firm and living Faith will never be a believer in any 



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CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



superstitious sign. For how could the God Who clothes the lilies 
of the fields and feeds the birds of the air forget those whom He 
created to His own image and likeness? If He loved us so as to 
send His only begotten Son to suffer and die for us, in order to save 
our immortal souls, could He do less for us than He does for 
flowers and birds? If He does so much for flowers and animals 
what, then, will He do for His children? 

A famous writer remarked: "The weaker we find Faith, the 
stronger will be superstition." Superstition, then, is not to be 
looked upon as a part, or result, of Faith. It is rather a result of 
the lack of Faith. As such it is both an insult to God and an insult 
to intelligence. 

The very fact, my dear boys, that we may look up to God for our 
safekeeping should fill our hearts with assurance and consolation. 
We have His sacred word that He will watch over us and, in His 
own way, guide us towards our eternal home. Heaven: He has 
given us a most solemn pledge that He will grant us all the graces, 
and more than we need, to gain our salvation. Why not, then, trust 
this almighty God, our Father! But rather than place confidence 
in the fatherly care of God, some people will place their trust in a 
rusty old horseshoe! And that piece of junk they consider more 
helpful than the providence of God Himself ! Such is the insult 
hurled at the Omnipotence and Mercy of God. Is it a wonder the 
Catholic Church takes such a firm stand against all kinds of super- 
stitious practices? 

Superstition is, likewise, an insult to intelligence. How can any 
man in his right mind claim that a horseshoe, a rabbit foot, or any 
other such silly thing, can do as much, or even more, than God 
Himself ! 

We know, for instance, that a magnet has the power of drawing 



SUPERSTITION i6i 

iron to itself, if both are brought near enough to each other. Now, 
if a person would wish to claim that the same magnet can attract 
paper, or wool, or wood, we would consider him as very ignorant. 
A horseshoe is useful in its way, but it has no more power of 
attracting good luck than a magnet can draw wool or paper. 

It would, indeed, be an unprofitable task were I to discuss all the 
many kinds of superstition. I will point out two of the more com- 
mon abuses: the one is to attribute peculiar powers to articles 
blessed by our holy Church, the other, fortune telling in its various 
phases, including the seeing of so-called ghosts at spiritualistic 
meetings. 

It is, indeed, unfortunate that people will misuse even sacred 
things, ascribing to them certain powers not understood or implied 
in the blessings attached to them. Although God has wrought 
miracles in favor of pious souls who used these blessed articles with 
devout intentions, yet it cannot be argued that, because God has 
miraculously saved the life of a person for the sake of the holy 
scapular, any one may jump into deep water and expect the 
scapular to act as a life preserver. We know of instances where God 
saved the lives of people through a rosary or medal of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary; that, however, does not mean that everybody having 
such a medal or rosary in his keeping will be safe from sunstroke, 
lightning or drowning, or that he will be fire and bullet-proof. Our 
holy Church blesses many articles, like candles, medals, rosarieS; 
crosses, palms, holy water, ashes, and so forth. By using them 
with a devout disposition we may, and do, receive certain favors, 
blessings and graces. It must, however, be understood that we re- 
ceive only such that are indicated by the words of the blessing that 
our holy Mother Church puts upon them. In His infinite bounty 
and love, God may, at times, grant extraordinary graces, may even 



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permit miracles to happen through the pious use of sacramentals : 
but to claim that the blessed articles are possessed of such powers 
is absolutely wrong and sinful. 

Always make it a rule to handle blessed articles, as rosaries, holy 
water, medals, and so forth, with due respect and devotion. Be 
content to use and apply them according to the wishes and the 
intention of holy Church. The graces, spiritual favors and in- 
dulgences you receive through them are surely to be prized, yet there 
is absolutely no necessity of assigning more powers to them than the 
wording of the blessings will permit. Hence do not attribute 
powers to holy things you know they cannot have. It is bad enough 
to attach supernatural powers to things, like a horseshoe. But to 
be superstitious about things blessed by the Church, and to use 
them otherwise than the Church wants them to be used, is a still 
greater wrong. 

In connection with what has been said about the abuse of holy 
things for superstitious purposes a few remarks must be made re- 
garding fake prayers and charms, with which at times the mails are 
flooded. I mean the endless chain-prayer fad. That so many people 
are fooled by the endless chain-prayer is amazing. A certain 
prayer, supposed to have been written by Christ, or to have fallen 
down from heaven upon the holy grave at Jerusalem, must be 
copied a number of times and sent to as many people, who in their 
turn must copy it as often and send it to as many more, and so on ! 
And the poor individual who gets that prayer and does not copy it 
and send it to as many, will be punished. His house will catch fire 
all by itself, he will be struck by lightning or by an automobile, and 
a thousand other evils will befall him. On the face of it, you must 
see that such things are false. To protect the faithful, the Church 
has made a law that all prayer-books and all prayers must have the 



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163 



approval of some bishop. The bishop of the city in which a pious 
book or prayer is printed must give his permission for publishing 
it. And, before he gives his consent, he has some learned priest 
go through the whole book, word for word, to see that the book 
or prayer contains nothing contrary to our holy Faith. Only after 
this priest renders a favorable report will the bishop give his con- 
sent to have the book or prayer printed and given to the people. 
So whenever you come across a Bible, prayerbook or prayer, that 
does not contain the permission of some bishop, you will know 
the Church has nothing to do with it. When the Church does not 
indorse a prayerbook or prayer, you know there is a reason. Hence 
you need not worry about such prayers. They can neither help nor 
hurt you. 

As to fortune telling, let me say this: For very good reasons 
God has withheld the future from us. Still, there are some per- 
sons who want to know the future. They go to a fortune teller 
who knows less about them than they do themselves. Once at a 
world's fair, I was approached by a fortune teller. He said : "Sir, 
I would like to tell you your fortune." I turned to him and said: 
"Sir, do you know my name?" He said, "No." "Do you know 
what I am?" I asked him again. And again he had to say "no." 
"Well," I said, "if you know neither my name nor my business how 
could you tell my past or my future ? You might take me for Mr. 
Brown, or Jones, or Smith, and tell me theirs, but not mine." 

If these fortune tellers could really tell the future for only half 
a day ahead, they would not have to wait for foolish dupes at 
twenty-five or fifty cents a head. If they knew only one hour 
ahead what horse would win a race, what copper or railway stock 
would go up, which baseball team would win, why, they could make 
a fortune in one day. They could live without worry ever after. 



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They know absolutely nothing more, even less, than the person 
going to them for information. You may hear that so-and-so went 
to a fortune teller and that he or she did hit the truth. But such 
is within the reach of all. 

A fortune teller may tell you that one of your family will die. 
I can tell you the same without laying the cards. For, in the 
course of time, some one of your relatives will have to die. I cannot 
tell you who it will be, or what day and hour, but neither can the 
fortune teller tell you that. He may say, you will go traveling. 
Who does not go traveling nowadays? But I could not say when 
you will go, where you will go, or what train you will take, and the 
fortune teller does not know it either. Hence, fortune tellers, to be 
on the safe side, will confine themselves to things that are as much 
applicable to you as to Smith and Brown or anybody else. 

Some people never feel well unless they are humbugged. 

The same may be said of fortune tellers who claim to bring the 
dead back. They are frauds. God will, at times, permit the dead 
to speak, as the lives of the saints inform us. When such events 
take place there is no charge for admission, as with spiritualistic 
deceivers. 

A poor woman, mourning the loss of her husband, went in her 
uncontrollable grief to a spiritualistic medium to be able to speak to 
her husband, for two dollars each time. She imagined that the 
whiterobed figure was really her husband. After a few weeks, her 
conscience not giving her any rest, she went to her parish priest to 
find out whether these meetings with the ghost of her husband were 
proper. 

"How much did it cost you to see your late husband?" the priest 
asked. "Two dollars each time," the woman replied. "And how 
often have you seen him?" the priest asked again. "About ten 



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times," she replied. "Well, now," the priest said, "your husband 
was a hard working man ; you must work hard to earn your living. 
Supposing your husband had any important message for you, do 
you not think he could come and speak to you directly without 
forcing you to give twenty dollars of your hard earned money to 
another person who has no interest in your meetings with him ?" 

The poor woman saw the force of the argument and had no more 
meetings with that "ghost." 

There may be times when circumstances point to the help of the 
devil in bringing about apparitions. In such cases there is all the 
more reason for us to stay away. But usually the success of spir- 
itualists depends upon dark rooms, clever tricks and a wholesale 
fraud. Some of the most startling apparitions have been explained 
as very clever tricks. 

The Church, whenever her priests give any blessings, puts these 
words upon their lips : 

"Our help is in the name of the Lord, 
Who hath made heaven and earth." 

We have all reason to f eeel happy, secure and grateful, because we 
have God to take care of us. Our trust is not placed in some helpless 
thing or empty sign, but in the Almighty and Infinitely merciful 
God. 



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XXVII. Cursing 

My dear boys : — It is often the hardest thing in the world to keep 
from the knowledge of others our private thoughts, desires, or 
inclinations. Our very walk, our way of dressing will reveal whether 
we are slouchy or neat, lazy or active. Some little detail in our 
general bearing and appearance will reveal whether we are well 
balanced or not. Nothing, however, will betray us more quickly 
than our tongue. Other indications may, at times, be misleading: 
our tongue never. People will not take our measure only by what 
we say, but how we say it. If we express our thoughts in poor 
English, they know our education has been neglected ; if our talk is 
slang, they conclude that our bringing up and our company are any- 
thing but refined. If every other word you say is a curse, they 
will keep you at a distance if they have any regard for their own 
reputation. 

Happily, in these times, it is no longer considered good form to 
be blustering and cursing and swearing like a madman. Even 
those who care nothing for God or devil, for heaven or hell, will 
refrain from vulgar talk because they forfeit by such talk the esteem 
and good-will of people of refinement. What, then, should be said 
of a Catholic boy who is guilty of cursing? There are no w^ords 
strong enough in our language to condemn the practice of cursing 
as it deserves to be condemned. All that can be said, so far as 
a boy is concerned who is guilty of cursing, is that it is very, very 
deplorable, and that such a fellow is not a fit companion for any 
decent boy. 

There are some who make light of cursing by saying : "Oh, what's 
the difference! One little word cannot do any harm." The little- 



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ness of it does not make a word good or bad. It is the meaning 
that counts. A word need not be a yard long to become a mortal sin. 
To bring this thought home to you, bear in mind what cursing really 
means. There is the infinitely loving, just and merciful God, whom 
you, a little sinful mite, ask to damn some one for whom our dear 
Saviour bled and died. You appeal to God to do something that 
is unjust, simply because in your fit of anger you wish to bring 
more harm upon another than you yourself are able to do him. 
The holiness, justice and mercy of God, however, forbid Him to 
damn people, or things, simply because it would suit your whim or 
fancy. The insult we offer God in asking Him to do such a wrong 
is so base and horrible that there are no words with which to 
express it. To curse is an insult to the holiness, the justice, and 
the mercy of God. Nor is cursing a meaningless trifle when con- 
sidered in the light of fraternal charity. We are bound to love our 
neighbor as ourselves. To wish him temporal or eternal harm, and 
even ask God to inflict it, is certainly anything but charity. 

An old adage says : ''There is a place for everything." And there 
is a proper place for cursing. When we hear a man talk French 
we have reason to think that he is a Frenchman. Another who talks 
Russian, will probably be a Russian. Our language, nay, — even our 
very dialect, will betray us. People of Boston, or of the West or 
South, have each their own accent. We can tell by the way people 
talk whether they are of the West or East, North or South, and 
cursing is the language of hell. The damned curse themselves and 
their fellow sufferers without ceasing. The souls of the damned 
curse the devil for having misled them, and he, in turn, curses them 
for having been such fools as to believe him more than God. Be- 
tween those that gave, and those that followed, the bad example 
fierce curses are exchanged, and nothing but curses. Not a kind 



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word is ever spoken there: not a word of pity or of sympathy; 
nothing but angry curses are shouted in that bottomless pit. 

Is it not a disgrace to speak the language of hell? 

Is it to be wondered at that the boy who curses loses the esteem 
and respect of every decent man ? 

One would hardly think it possible that there can be malice worse 
than even the devil's malice. The boy who in his profane talk abuses 
the most holy name of Jesus does so with the greatest irreverence. 
But even the devils guard their tongue. They, at least, never abuse 
the most holy Name of our Saviour. At the sound of that most 
holy Name, even the devils bend their knees in fear and trembling. 
He, then, who is guilty of pronouncing the most holy Name of 
Jesus Christ irreverently, is guilty of a crime that not even Satan 
would dare to commit. 

From this, then, you may judge whether cursing is a meaningless 
trifle. He who would make little of it either does not know what 
he is talking about, or he tries to mislead you purposely. 

As to the effect of curses, suffice it to say that, like stones thrown 
up in the air, they come back again. Usually they hurt him who 
utters them. It happened some time ago that a hot-headed farmer 
was scolding his hired help for not working as fast as he wished 
them to work. He found fault with the men who were pitching 
hay and said : "I will be damned if I can't pitch hay faster than you 
lazy dogs." He got up on the wagon, but in swinging his pitchfork 
he lost his balance, fell over backwards and broke his neck. He 
was dead when picked up. Let us hope that his last wish did not 
come true. 

What would you say of a boy who claims he can not tell the 
truth because he got so used to lying he can no longer keep from it ? 
Would you excuse his lies because he has developed the habit of 



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lying? You would say, there is no excuse for forming such a 
habit. In like manner, there is no excuse for saying, "I got into 
the habit of cursing and cannot stop it." You can stop it and you 
must stop it. That is all there is to it. You had no business to 
form such a bad habit and now you must break yourself of that 
habit. The sooner you do it, the better it will be for you. To con- 
tract a bad habit is a great wrong ; to keep this habit is another great 
wrong. And, since, with the grace of God, we can break ourselves 
of any bad habit, it is foolish to say we cannot. It would, in that 
case, be more correct if you would say you will not. There is no 
reason or excuse for us to fly into a rage and passion whenever 
something goes wrong. A little pot will boil over much faster 
than a big kettle. In like manner, a little, narrow mind will become 
hot over things that a big, broad mind passes off with a smile. 
Learn to control your feelings, your temper, your tongue. You will 
make your life miserable by letting them get the better of you. 

The saddest feature about the habitual curser is that, usually, a 
curse is the last word he says in this life. 

When I was a boy, I knew a man who had been brought up as 
a Catholic, although, so far as I knew, he never lived up to his 
holy religion. I can still remember how we boys used to stand 
around that man whenever he had been drinking, to hear him curse 
and swear. In his impotent rage he was a strange sight to behold. 
On his deathbed, he refused to have a priest called. Having foolish- 
ly wasted his health and earnings, he had few that stood by him at 
the end. His tongue was dying; he was hardly able to speak; but 
still he cursed. When finally unable to speak his lips still moved. 
What he said could not be understood. Let us hope that these last 
words were an act of contrition. And God grant that our last words 



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on earth will be a prayer. The chances, however, are that, if guilty 
of cursing habitually, your last words will be a curse. 

No well-disposed boy will wish to be guilty of cursing, or of 
abusing the most holy Name of our Redeemer. Yet there are any 
number of boys who, while they would not think of irreverently 
using the name of Jesus, make use of some other words that sound 
very much like a genuine blasphemy. You sometimes hear men 
and boys saying, "Judas priest." The expression they place upon 
the word is, to say the least, not very edifying. It is always ad- 
visable to refrain from words that have a striking similarity with 
some holy name or thing. In some unguarded moment there may be 
a slip of the tongue and you say a word you do not mean to say. 
Eventually, you may no longer mind if your tongue slips ; and from 
that stage to a bad habit is not very far. 

There is no denying the fact that we all are at times provoked 
beyond endurance, and many men find relief in saying something 
forcible. It is human nature. So when such a time comes for you, 
follow my advice and you will not go wrong. Take a full breath of 
air and say real loud and as forcibly as possible: "Jumping fish- 
hooks !" or "Great Guns," and "Happy Hooligan" may be used for 
sake of variety. By saying any, or all, of these words you avoid 
the dreadful calamity of an explosion, the rupture of a blood-vessel 
will be averted, and, after you have had your harmless say, you 
may come to again and have a quiet laugh all to yourself for having 
come out of that great crisis with so little effort. 

Try to acquire an even temper. Never be overjoyed one day 
and depressed the next. Let no day pass by without making 
an effort to be more patient, and forbearing, and meek, than the 
day before. 

Our dear Saviour gave us a beautiful lesson of patience and 



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meekness on one of His journeys to Jerusalem. He desired to stop 
at one of the cities in Samaria, and sent two Apostles ahead to find 
lodging for the night. Instead of receiving Him with open arms, 
the people started a riot and actually forbade our dear Lord to 
enter the city. The insults that were hurled at their divine Master 
made the Apostles so indignant that they asked Him whether they 
should not call down fire from heaven to destroy that godless city. 
And what did Christ say? Did He say, "Yes, you are right, these 
people are an ungrateful lot and fire is even too good for them"? 
He said nothing of the sort. He even called the Apostles to task 
for having such a revengeful disposition. Without the least sign 
of impatience or of ill-will He said : *'You know not of what spirit 
you are. The Son of Man is not come to destroy souls but to 
save." 

Tired though He was, Christ walked on with His little group of 
faithful Apostles until the next little town was reached. There 
they found shelter for the night. Our dear Lord would have been 
perfectly justified in punishing these ungrateful people, but He took 
their insults in good part. "Learn of Me," He says, "for I am 
meek and humble of heart." And let us raise our hands up to Him, 
praying : Oh, Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like 
unto Thine. 



172 CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



XXVIIL Sunday 

My dear Boys : — Even at your age you must have seen many of 
the ways in which the world spends Sunday. In summer, the people 
attend picnics, take in excursions, or go fishing and camping. In 
winter, hunting, skating and indoor games take the place of sum- 
mer amusements. And then there are often theatres and shows 
that attract people. You will find this class of people going to 
church on Christmas day, or on the feast of Easter, you may find 
them there attending some fashionable wedding or funeral. And 
these people go to church on such occasions not because they de- 
sire to comply with a duty, but to show to the rest of mankind 
that they can dress more handsomely than others may think them 
able to afford. But as for going to church Sunday after Sunday 
that is more than they are willing to do. Their amusements and 
social obligations give them no time for regular churchgoing. 

Still, we may, to a great extent, excuse many of these worldly 
people. After all, what inducement can the bare walls of a Prot- 
estant church give to people ? They can easily find better speakers 
than their ministers, and better singers are heard in most theatres. 
They have indeed no obligation to attend their church Sunday after 
Sunday, nor can they see a good reason for attending even at a 
sacrifice or discomfort. 

These excuses do not, however, apply to Catholics. We have 
a strict Commandment to attend holy Mass every Sunday, under 
pain of mortal sin. We know, too, what the holy sacrifice of 
Mass means for us, what graces it holds in store for us, and we 
know furthermore that there is reward for the observers and 
punishment for the violators of the Third Commandment. And 



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173 



yet there are Catholics who think little or nothing of missing Mass 
on Sunday. The most foolish excuses are offered. I have known 
a man who would not go to Mass because he was not allowed to 
join the choir. Who does not know of people who do not go to 
church because they are unable to show off fine clothes. Women 
have stayed away from church for no other reason but that their 
hat does not look as handsome as the hat of another woman. Men 
stay away from church because they claim they have no Sunday 
suit. Unfortunately, it is true that people will judge one another 
by their clothes and by the size of the bank account. But God 
does not mind these little things. He looks at our hearts. We 
may have no bank book to our name ; no property at our disposal ; 
our clothes may be two or ten years old; and yet, if our heart is 
free from mortal sin, we will be a pleasing sight to God. He will 
be glad to see us Sunday after Sunday as we come to pay Him the 
homage due to Him. A sinstained conscience, however, is hideous 
to God no matter how costly the clothes and jewels. 

But there are also Catholics whose only reason for breaking the 
Third Commandment of God is their entertainments. This class 
simply does not care for the Church, and far from feeling ashamed 
they even boast of their indifference and ridicule others for going 
to church. 

It is harder, still, to explain how a Catholic boy can stay away 
from holy Mass on Sundays after he has left school only a year 
or two. This boy has been well instructed by the school sisters, 
and by the priest. This boy had grown accustomed to come to 
Mass every Sunday. Those who were his schoolmates remained 
faithful to their duty. He has grown indifferent. 

Some boys have the mistaken notion that religious duties are 
a matter of compulsion. They think they must comply with them 



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when they are watched, and that they may evade them when not 
watched. They look upon the rules of the parish school as some 
sort of tyranny, and once beyond the influence of the priest and 
the school, they feel as though they were free to do as they like. 
But if there is one fact that you should take to heart mere than 
another when you leave school it is this : God desires your willing 
service in obeying the Commandments. It is left to your con- 
science. You have received all the instructions necessary to give 
you a good knowledge of your holy religion. You know well 
what God forbids, and what He commands you to do. God does 
not intend to deprive us of the liberty of our will. God wants to 
be obeyed freely, willingly and cheerfully. Even your guardian 
angel may only urge you, but cannot compel you, to obey God. 

What made your parents help to build this church and school? 
No one compelled them to make so many sacrifices ! What makes 
people come to the Masses on Sunday, crowding the church for 
every Divine service? What makes Catholics abstain from meat 
on Fridays and fastdays? What makes a sister of charity lock 
herself up in a convent and devote her life to charitable work? 
What makes the priest say Mass every morning, preach the word 
of God, spend hours and hours in a narrow confessional, and hurry 
to the sick and dying even though he endanger his own life? The 
answer to all these questions is Faith. We must be led by Faith, 
and should live according to it. 

Let this lesson teach you, then, to live according to the instruc- 
tions you have received. Keep the Commandments of God, as 
Faith tells you and because Faith tells you. Likewise keep this 
Third Commandment as God wants you to keep it, and because 
He wants you to keep it. 

Your Faith bids you to come to holy Mass on Sundays and feast 



SUNDAY 



175 



days unless some important reason excuse you. In case you 
have any doubt as to whether there is sufficient reason for staying 
away from holy Mass, ask your confessor. Faith tells you what 
holy Mass is; tells you what an honor it is even to be allowed to 
be present at it; it tells you what graces you receive from it, and 
how perfectly God is honored in this great sacrifice. Faith tells 
you why you should keep holy the Lord's day. Faith commands 
you to honor God and rest your body. After God gives you six 
days to work for yourself, it is no more than right and just that 
you should set one day aside for His glory and honor. He might 
ask more of us. The very fact that He asks so little of us ought 
to dispose us to give Him the entire day. To begrudge Him the 
short time of a holy Mass makes us look dreadfully small. Faith 
tells you that God rewards those who observe His day and pun- 
ishes those that desecrate it. Faith tells you who it is that is 
present upon our altars. The Third Commandment is so exact 
and plain that we cannot help but understand it. We know ex- 
actly what it stands for, knov/ what it commands and what it 
forbids, know the why and wherefore of it, and the consequences 
of our actions regarding it. This certainly ought to be enough 
for us. 

God leaves everything to our good will. We may comply with 
His wishes and reap eternal reward, or we may oppose His Com- 
mandments and, in that case, face the consequences. It is ours to 
choose between life and death; Heaven and hell. Now if we want 
to show good sense, we will see that we promote the honor and 
glory of God and the salvation of our soul. 

The meaning of attending holy Mass and of avoiding servile 
work has been explained so that I may pass it over this time. But 
there are two other things I would like to impress upon you. 



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The first is this : Never permit yourself to be misled by the bad 
example of others. If you live long enough you will see plenty 
of people who never go to church. I met one of these kind a few 
days ago and asked him to come to church. I got little satisfaction. 
He told me how good he was because he had not killed anyone and 
had not stolen anything. "Those are only two Commandments you 
keep. How about the other eight?" I asked. To this question I 
got no answer. To come to Heaven it is not enough to dodge the 
jail in this life. The fact that a man has not been locked up for 
a crime does by no means give him an admission ticket to Heaven. 
The one reason, in fact, why some people will not kill or steal is 
that they are afraid of being locked up for it. If it were not for 
jail and gallows our life would not be as secure as it is. Because 
others will not go to church can never be a reason for you to stay 
away from church. The time will come when some will laugh at 
you for being pious. People will say you are not up-to-date, that 
there is no God, and all such talk. But he laughs best who laughs 
last. It may even be that a brother of yours, or a dear friend of 
yours, will for some foolish reason stay from church. And they 
will try to make you think as they do, will put or try to put all 
kinds of silly notions into your head. Let them talk as much as 
they have a mind to. Remember that we must mind God above 
all other things. The devil was not satisfied when he was sent to 
hell. He wanted others to do as he did. He tried all he could 
to turn our first parents away from God, in order to drag the 
whole human race to hell with him. The bad example you see 
round about you is only another trick of the devil. It has been a 
good bait with many other people, and the devil sees no reason 
why you should not be caught with it as easily as others have been 
caught. 



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177 



If you must follow an example, take the example of pious and 
saintly people. If the world only took to heart the example of 
saintly people instead of the example of the wicked, this world 
would be a far better place to live in. There would be less greed, 
selfishness and vice of all kinds, and more charity instead. 

The other thought I want you to bear in mind is this: Never, 
excepting in the greatest necessity, take work that prevents you 
from going to holy Mass every Sunday. 

I understand perfectly well that some work must be done on 
Sundays. Some people must be found to do that kind of work. 
But, on the other hand, there are employers and foremen that 
demand work done on a Sunday without reason or necessity. 

In looking for work bear in mind you have not only a body to 
feed but a soul to save. What would it profit you to gain all the 
money in the world for the benefit of your body, if thereby you 
would lose your soul. The bargain would be a very poor one, in- 
deed. Hence, in looking for work, always make sure that you 
can take care of the welfare of your soul. If for some reason or 
other you take night work, you will have to spend some part of 
the Sunday in work. But in most cities you will find excellent 
arrangements for such workers. You can hear a holy Mass either 
as you come from work or you may go home, take a little rest and 
go to a late Mass. It is only a question of good will with these 
workers whether they want to go to church. 

Many people can make no headway. They work in vain. They 
work seven days each week. At the end of the year they are ex- 
actly where they were the year before. If you want God to bless 
you and your work, keep His day holy. Possibly God's help is not 
with them, because they refused to be with God. 



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XXIX. Obedience 

My dear Boys: — A few days ago I met a man of nearly sixty 
years of age, as he was leaving the cemetery. He had planted 
some flowers on the grave of his father who had died the week 
before. When he met me, he had tears in his eyes. "Father," the 
man said, "now I only feel how much I depended on the sound ad- 
vice of my father. I never undertook anything in business or in 
other matters without asking father first. And his advice was always 
wise and prudent. Now I feel that I am alone. I must depend 
upon myself," and this very man who spoke thus, my dear boys, 
had grown-up sons and daughters. Still, he always looked up to 
his father and never undertook anything without his advice or 
against his will. 

Nowadays when boys reach the age of fourteen years — even be- 
fore that — they yearn for freedom, for liberty. They will not hear 
of restraint, of obedience or of advice. They want to do as they 
please, what they please, and when they please. The obedience 
that a conscientious father or mother exacted in former times grates 
upon their up-to-date mind. The old folks may demand obedience 
of younger sisters and brothers, but are too far behind the times 
to tell the boy of fourteen what to do or what not to do. He 
thinks he knows everything. He has left school, and possibly 
earns the magnificent sum of two or three dollars a week. There- 
fore, he argues, he is his own master. Not even a suggestion, or a 
hint, or a counsel, is taken in good part. The yoke of obedience 
that proved so galling and irksome is cast aside and the boy thinks 
he breathes more freely. He may think so. That is all. He labors 
under a dreadful illusion. 



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179 



Well, some may say, how long must we practise obedience ? Will 
we be bound to obey after we are of age? The fact is, my dear 
boys, that the obligation of obedience never ceases. It binds us 
always. Unless we learn well how to obey when we are children, 
the obligation to obey will prove harder from day to day. No man 
is excused from obedience. The higher he ranks in society or 
office, the more exacting will be the obligation of obedience. The 
President of our country cannot do as he likes. He has to obey 
the Constitution and the laws of the land. Practically he can do 
nothing without the will or against the wishes of Congress. Con- 
gress, in turn, cannot enact laws opposed to the Constitution. The 
priest of a parish, though he must be obeyed by the people of the 
parish in all things lawful, is responsible to his bishop and must 
obey the instructions he receives. The bishop, in turn, although 
the priests of the diocese obey him, cannot go beyond the orders 
and instructions given him by the Holy Father, the Pope. The 
Holy Father, in turn, although all Christendom obeys him as the 
representative of Christ, is bound to obey the laws of God as 
rigidly as his humblest subject. 

Man, no matter how high he may climb upon the ladder of author- 
ity, will always find another just a trifle higher than himself, to 
whom he must be obedient in all lawful things. 

You see, then, that there is no end to obedience in this life. 
It is binding upon all, the rich and the poor, the wise and the un- 
learned, the high and the low. You cannot find a single being, 
outside of God, that is not bound to obey. 

Nor does obedience end with our last breath of life in this 
world. Even in the world to come we will be bound by this law. 
There is obedience in Heaven as well as in hell. The source of 
authority, God, is the same in both places. There is this difference, 



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however, that, while in hell obedience only adds to the greater 
humiliation and suffering of the damned, in Heaven it proves to 
be a source of greater happiness and love of God. 

It is true that there are people who claim they are their own 
masters, that they can do as they please, that no man has any right 
to make laws for them. They claim that, since they have been 
given a will and understanding of their own, they can use it as they 
think best. You will find people who disregard and break the 
laws of God if by so doing they derive any temporal benefit. For 
the sake of gaining another dollar, or for the sake of pleasure, 
they will miss holy Mass on Sunday or feast-day. The support 
they should give the Church is spent in some other way. These 
people even boast of their disobedience and make fun of those 
who are faithful to the holy Will of God. Not content with doing 
wrong themselves they try to induce others to do as they do. The 
very fact that God does not punish them on the spot, and that 
they may possibly prosper for some reason only known to Divine 
Providence, is used as an argument in their favor. 

But let these people boast of their independence as much as they 
like. Let them do as they like. The time will come when they 
will have to obey the call and voice of God. They may be deaf to 
His voice now, but the time will come when there will not be a 
doubt about the meaning of that call. In life they may have done 
just what they pleased. But the time will come when the boast 
will die upon their lips. That time comes with the parting from 
this life. These independent people will not be able to wait one 
minute or even a second to do as they please when God calls them 
from this world. They will die in obedience to the holy Will of 
God. They will render an account of every thought and word and 
deed and omission in obedience to the holy Will of God. They 



OBEDIENCE 



i8i 



will obediently submit to the judgment of God, not for a short space 
of time, but for all eternity. 

You see, then, that, even when people fail to obey God in this 
world, they will obey God in the next. You understand, too, how 
silly it is of us to think that, after a certain number of years, we 
are our own masters, to do as we please, what we please, how we 
please. That time will never come, whether we will spend eternity 
in Heaven or in hell. 

Obedience is a part of the Providence of God in our behalf. 
Since our first parents sinned by disobedience, God ordained that 
salvation can be obtained only by obedience. To put stress upon 
obedience, as the sign of atonement on our part. He has so organ- 
ized the entire plan of our social order that one person must be 
obedient to another, without exempting a single being from the 
necessity of obeying. Hence all authority comes from God. To 
humble our proud minds and to bend our stiff necks in obedience 
is at times a hard task. And yet you will learn in later years, 
when you will have responsibilities of your own, when you will 
have to command others to obey you, that it is far more easy to 
obey than to command. In fact, no one should command who has 
not learned to obey. 

Now that you understand that obedience is binding upon us for 
time and eternity, you will see the reason for being obedient to 
parents. 

In the first place, it is the holy Will of God. God wants us to 
obey, to help us gain Heaven. 

Parents do not command or forbid something just to show their 
power, but to help us. Remember how helpless a little child is. 
When you were little tots you may have wanted to eat some 
poison you saw — just because it looked tempting. Your parents 



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had to forbid it; perhaps you cried and yelled and you had to be 
punished even. Your parents wanted to save your life, and if you 
had not obeyed you would have died. Now you may be a boy of 
fourteen and have your little head crowded with all kinds of 
wisdom. You may know more history or botany than your father. 
But do not think for a moment that to get along in this world your 
book knowledge will be enough. There is a certain knowledge 
called experience that you have not. And if you want to get les- 
sons in that science you will have to go to your father and mother 
and take their advice. 

Obedience should be its own reward, for I do not like the idea 
of children asking to be bribed to obey. When a child must be 
given a penny to behave it is not an obedient child. In course of 
time, it will gain the impression that money is the only thing on 
earth to work for. If it pays more to be bad than good that child 
will be bad. In later years it will do and be whatever pays best. 
It will have no idea of another motive or reason for obedience. 

Since you understand that we must obey for time and eternity, 
the obedience we owe to our parents is a training for the obedience 
we will have to practise in time to come. 

The degree of obedience exacted of you at present grows in pro- 
portion as the years pass on. The older you get, the higher you 
advance in honors and responsibilities, the harder obedience be- 
comes. Now, your obedience demands few and light sacrifices. 
In later years, obedience will ask for many and great sacrifices. 
If you cannot be obedient in little matters now, will you be more 
able to be obedient in matters of importance in after-years? We 
must begin by being faithful in little things before we can be faith- 
ful in things of importance. 

It is necessary, therefore, to learn how to be obedient. The 



OBEDIENCE 



183 



sooner we can master that lesson the better for us. You have 
noticed how the examples of your arithmetic become harder for 
each grade. You will not be able to master the examples of the 
tenth grade if you do not know how to solve the examples of the 
first grade. Unless you learn to obey whilst you are a boy, your 
life as a man will be a failure. Learn, then, my dear boys, to be 
obedient, in order to promote the honor and glory of God as well as 
your own temporal and eternal welfare. 



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XXX. Scandal 

My Dear Boys : A great many boys do not know what scandal 
really means. They give scandal and they take it and yet they do 
not know, and sometimes w^ill not want to know, the real meaning 
of the word. Most people understand by scandal the spreading of 
tales injurious to reputations. To discover some hidden or imag- 
inary fault of a neighbor, to spread as widely as possible, and 
thereby to cause all sorts of mischief, is only one of the ways of 
giving scandal. 

It is a mistake, however, to take a part for a whole. Scandal 
means more than that. Scandal means the force of bad example. 
And bad example finds its force of doing harm in our inclination 
towards evil. Inclination towards evil is one of the wounds that 
original sin has inflicted upon mankind. This evil inclination in- 
duces us to discern and to follow the evil example of others. We 
may see just as much, and even more, good example. But there 
is greater attraction and more plausibility in evil example. If 
we see So-and-so doing something wrong we at once ask: if he 
can do so why should we do otherwise? Do we ever draw a 
similar conclusion when we see others giving a good and noble 
example ? We even suspect and question the good motive of those 
who give a good example. Now if our good inclination was as 
strong as our evil inclination we would find it easier to be uplifted 
and inspired by good example than to be dragged dowTi and tempted 
by bad example. Keeping this idea in mind, the true meaning of 
scandal will be more readily understood. 

Any sin in word, action or omission, committed in the presence 
of others and causing them, or giving them, the occasion of spir- 



SCANDAL 



185 



itual harm is scandal. The sin of scandal will be venial or mor- 
tal, depending upon the sin thus committed. If the sin committed 
in the presence of others is a mortal sin, the scandal resulting there- 
from will likewise be a mortal sin. To give you some examples 
of scandal I might, for instance, mention filthy talk, passing 
around bad books or pictures, missing holy Mass on a Sunday and 
boasting of it, making fun of others who are faithful to their re- 
ligious duties. For, as I explained to you before, the bad exam- 
ple given by word or action tempts others to act in a like manner. 

Some people make light of scandal by saying: "Well, no one 
need do as I do unless he wants to. They know well enough." 
It is true that we know well enough. But, owing to evil inclina- 
tion, knowing and doing are two different things. The fact re- 
mains that by doing wrong in the presence of others we give 
scandal. 

The kind of scandal to which you are most exposed at your age 
is had company. 

There is no need of telling you that the devil is aware of your 
good will, of the instructions you have received and are still re- 
ceiving, and of the means of grace you have at your disposal. If 
he were to appear to you in his horrible person, dread and fear 
might kill you on the spot. You would never think of committing 
even a venial sin. But he wants your soul and he will try to 
destroy all the good that has been done for you. He wants to 
pluck from your heart all the good instructions you have received; 
he wants to rob you of all your merits ; he wants to keep you away 
from the means of grace, for he knows only too well that the more 
use you make of them, particularly of holy Communion, the harder 
it is for him to get a hold upon you. To bring this about he will 
send bad company to do the dirty work for him. And bad com- 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



pany does that kind of work with a vengeance. Bad companions 
will tell you how foolish it is to pray, how silly to receive the Sac- 
raments ; they will tell you that life is short and that we cheat our- 
selves if we do not enjoy its few pleasures. For many boys these 
and similar ideas of their bad companions are like sweet music. 
That is exactly the talk they like to listen to. With bad company 
showing them how, they learn only too gladly. So you can see 
the devil has some mighty good and able workers in this world. 

In your factories and shops you will be exposed more than any- 
where else to bad company. It is there you will hear the foulest 
talk, the dirtiest stories, and the most blasphemous remarks about 
God and religion. If a complaint to the foreman or the managers 
will be of no help, but will rather tend to make matters worse, and 
if you cannot get work at another place, all you can do will be to 
take it in quietly and say nothing. Pray silently that the tempta- 
tion may not harm you and that God may forgive the wicked things 
that are said. Of course, it is understood that you must never 
pick any such boys to be your friends. Let them be ever so funny 
and entertaining otherwise, it makes them so much the more dan- 
gerous. Treat such fellow- workers with kindness and considera- 
tion, but at the same time keep them at a distance. One of them 
may speak to you about going to see some show. From what you 
are being told, it is one of the kind you would not dare to take 
your mother or sister to see. Your common sense will tell you 
that if it is not fit to be seen by them, neither is it right for you to 
see it. Keep away from the class of boys that frequent places of 
doubtful character. Bad company may want to poison your mind 
by speaking of the faults of parents or priests, and in this manner 
endeavor to undermine respect and love and obedience towards 



SCANDAL 



your superiors. Do not listen to such talk. It is nothing but a bait 
of the devil. 

So far it has been taken for granted that you are the innocent 
and suffering party. However, it will not be amiss to examine 
yourself and see whether you have not been guilty of giving scan- 
dal to others. And here it will be well to call your attention to 
your responsibility towards younger brothers and sisters. The 
older children of a family are the assistants and helpers of the 
parents in bringing up the younger children. By their example 
they either help their parents or they frustrate all their efforts. The 
good example of an older brother will be a great help for the par- 
ents and an inspiration for the younger children. Likewise the bad 
example of an older brother will be imitated by the younger 
children. 

Do you ever speak of the faults of your parents to your younger 
brothers or sisters? Do you ever talk back to your parents when 
they want you to do or leave something? As the younger chil- 
dren begin to understand that you no longer obey your parents 
they will soon want to know why they should obey. Are you 
guilty of using unbecoming language in the presence of younger 
brothers or sisters? Do you brag about any of your sins to them, 
as, for instance, cursing, foul talk and the like? Have you ever 
spoken to them of worse things than this? If you are guilty of 
any scandal towards your own flesh and blood, your younger broth- 
ers and sisters, the malice of it is all the greater, because your 
brothers and sisters are the ones you should love most dearly, next 
to your parents. 

"It is impossible that scandals should not come : but woe to him 
through whom they com.e." *Tt is better for him that a millstone 
should be hanged about his neck and that he should be drowned 



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in the depth of the sea." These words of our dear Saviour give 
us to understand in the plainest words what He thinks of scandal. 
Our Divine Saviour was all kindness and mercy and charity. He 
had a kindly smile and a gentle word for the greatest sinners if they 
were but repentant. Yet He would rather see a man mercilessly 
drowned than have him give scandal. 

For your guidance it will be best to lay down the following 
rules of conduct, that you may never be guilty of this terrible sin. 

In the first place, avoid every mortal sin. You know how readily 
bad example is taken. If in the past you have been guilty of 
scandal, all you can do is to make up for it as best you can. You 
must try and bring those you have scandalized back to virtue. You 
will have to give good example by your life so as to make up for 
the bad example; and, finally, pray much and pray earnestly that 
no evil results may follow from your wicked actions. 

Some years ago a Catholic young lawyer opened an office in one 
of our large cities. He was of a good and pious family. One 
of his first callers was another lawyer, who welcomed him to the 
city, wished him success and gave him some advice. "Above all 
things," he said, "if you want to make headway in this town you 
will have to give up going to church. I was brought up a Catholic, 
too, but I got over it. It's all right to pass off as a Catholic 
sometimes — to get Catholic votes if you run for some office — but 
otherwise I don't bother about it and get along fine." The young 
lawyer answered that if he had to throw his religion overboard to 
make a success in law he would give up the profession and would 
make his living in some way in which he would not have to deny 
his God. Here was one instance where bad example was given 
but not taken. But God only knows how many others that have 



SCANDAL 



189 



come in contact with this apostate lawyer have heeded that bad 
example. 

To avoid scandal we should refrain from doing things that are 
perfectly lawful, if for some reason or other they will likely be 
misunderstood. For instance, an invalid person has received per- 
mission to eat meat on fastdays. If others, not knowing that he 
has been dispensed, would take scandal by seeing him eat meat it 
is advisable for him not to eat the meat before them unless they 
can be informed that a dispensation has been obtained. 

Finally, there is another kind of taking scandal, the pharisaical 
way. If the keeping of a law of God will cause some to be 
shocked and scandalized we are still to keep that law, taking care 
not to offend God to please such people. All that remains for us 
to do is to make our position clear and obey God rather than man. 
Christ knew that by healing the sick on the Sabbath He would 
scandalize the Pharisees. This could not induce Him to omit His 
works of mercy. He simply explained the law of the Sabbath 
and left the Pharisees to say what they pleased. 

Now, since you understand what a great sin scandal is, it will be 
well for you to examine your conscience and see whether you have 
ever given or taken scandal. If you have given it, try by all 
means to right the wrong. If you have taken it in the past, avoid 
it in the future. Let the good example you see about you inspire 
and guide you to a better and holier life. 



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XXXL Further Thoughts Upon the Fifth Commandment 

My Dear Boys: There are two other matters we must touch 
upon in treating this commandment, although people are little in- 
clined to give them the consideration they require. It is remark- 
able how this commandment is neglected in the examination of 
conscience. Boys will say to themselves: "Fifth Commandment — 
Well, I have not killed anyone." But even though you are not 
guilty of murder you may be guilty of sins against this command- 
ment. 

The first question I want to propose to you is this : Do you ever 
expose your life or health without necessity? 

Boys consider it a badge of honor and bravery to risk Hfe or 
health for some foolish prank. A poor swimmer will strike out 
beyond his depth. Some reckless fellow will try and skate upon ice 
no thicker than the blade of a penknife. Another will look into 
a loaded gun that always goes off when it shouldn't. Others drive 
their bicycles or automobiles at breakneck speed, or get reckless 
Vv^ith machinery. One can hardly pick up a paper v/ithout reading 
of accidents and loss of lives that could have been prevented with 
a little care and prudence. The fact that some persons have had 
fortunate escapes is no guarantee that they will always have such 
luck in future; it gives them no right to trifle with death and call 
cowards those who have more regard for their life. 

There are, indeed, times when we must expose our life to danger. 
A priest and a doctor often expose themselves to danger in attend- 
ing the sick. Firemen, nurses, policemen, soldiers and sailors must 
risk their lives when duty calls. But all these cases are of men 



FURTHER THOUGHTS UPON THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT igi 



who devote their lives to the welfare of others, and who are ready 
to make the sacrifice of their lives to save the lives of others. 
These people, too, are under the special protection of God. If, by 
chance, they should lose their lives in their calling they are martyrs 
of duty, and God will reward them. 

But where there is no obligation arising from either duty or 
charity, we are by no means allowed to risk our life. 

You understand that only He has a right to life who gave it. 
We have not placed ourselves into this world. It is God who gave 
us life. He has placed us into this world giving us a certain 
length of time, and graces wherewith to gain eternal life, — Heaven. 
God can and will take this temporal life from us, when and where 
and in what manner He sees fit. Hence any act on our part where- 
by we place our life in danger is nothing else than disputing this 
right of God, or taking it out of His hands. It stands to reason 
that if, by our actions, we interfere with the plans of God in this 
most sacred right of His, He cannot be indifferent in the matter. 
And we shall be the losers if we trifle with the rights of God. 

Realizing that your life belongs to God, you will understand why 
you are not allowed to expose your life to danger by any unnecessary 
risk or carelessness or recklessness. If duty or charity urge you to 
expose your life to save the life of another, you may depend upon 
the help of God, because then the risk is taken for the love of His 
commandment. 

It is unlawful for us to risk our lives unnecessarily, and it is 
equally wrong to shorten our lives by any act of indiscretion, or 
by sin. 

Under this heading I must place the use of tobacco by smoking 
and chewing. 

I know you want to be men, and you can hardly wait the time 



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when you can feel the first little hairs on your upper lip. But let 
me tell you, your troubles will begin soon enough without trying 
to hurry them along. Stay boys as long as you can. A pipe or 
cigarette in your mouth will not make a man of you. You can- 
not call a snowman a man though he has a corncob pipe in his face. 
A man may look well with pipe or cigar; a boy looks foolish. 

It is not to begrudge you a little pleasure, if you are told to 
abstain from the use of tobacco. It is for your own good. Doc- 
tors will tell you that, while the use of tobacco is comparatively 
harmless to people who are fully grown unless some organic 
trouble makes the use of tobacco harmful, its use is surely danger- 
ous for boys. For a healthy growth it is necessary that all the or- 
gans of your body grow uniformly. If most organs grow uniformly, 
but one, the heart, is retarded and does not grow in proportion to 
the other parts, you will in all likelihood be one of the number that 
die young. If the heart is too weak to do the work for the over- 
grown body it will naturally give out. With boys who use tobacco 
whilst in the state of growing it often happens that some part 
of the body stays behind. To grow up in such a manner, with an 
organ like the heart remaining weak, will mean physical collapse 
when sickness overtakes you. You, with your natural craving for 
long life, will you try to undermine it? Do not think of smoking 
until you are fully grown, when you can smoke in public without 
fear of being laughed at. You will then enjoy a pipe or cigar all 
the more. 

You must observe the same precautions, for a similar reason, 
regarding all alcoholic drinks. The use of such drinks must not 
be allowed except in accordance with the instructions of a doctor. 
The effect of alcoholic drinks upon the undeveloped body is similar 
to that of tobacco. 



FURTHER THOUGHTS UPON THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT 193 



Even in later years never allow yourself to hanker after drink. 
Check at once all such tendency. When you see that drink is 
getting the better of you, abstain from it altogether. 

Another practice equally, if not more, harmful, is the drinking 
of ice-water. The hotter some people feel the more ice-water 
they pour down. How can we be surprised if so many die of 
quick consumption ! You see boys getting overheated while playing 
ball. They perspire effusively. The very first thing they do is 
to pour a dipper of ice-water into their system. The human body 
is not made to stand such abuse. 

Even when not overheated it is a risky thing to drink ice-water. 
No one knows where the ice comes from. It may have been taken 
from a swamp with great typhoid or malaria possibilities. One 
day I saw an ice-water tank being filled in a railway coach. A 
block of ice was being pushed along the dirty platform of the depot 
where hundreds had walked. A porter took an axe, knocked off 
a few chunks and threw them into the tank. Whether that tank 
had ever been cleaned of the sediment of previous contents I could 
not say. Even if the ice had been made of pure and distilled water 
and if the tank had been clean, the way of handling the ice, and 
the dangers of a drinking cup that all kinds of persons put to 
their mouths, should make us think twice before we drink. The 
common drinking cup is one of the most prolific breeders of sick- 
ness. The most dreaded skin diseases, as well as tubercular and 
cancerous troubles, are easily passed from one to another by means 
of drinking cups. Hence it will be far better to suffer thirst for a 
few hours than to drink out of a cup that you find in public use. 

There is no need of going into further details about this matter 
since in school you have been informed about the principal »ules of 



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health. Remember the various rules of hiealth that have been ex- 
plained to you, — and act accordingly. 

It will be well, therefore, to examine your conscience from time 
to time, to see whether you recklessly expose your life to dangers 
of any kind, or whether you have contracted habits that tend to 
shorten your life. 

The other matter to which I wish to call your attention is cruelty 
to animals. It is true, this subject is not directly within the scope 
of this commandment; yiet it is of particular importance at your 
stage of life to realize that cruelty to animals helps more than any- 
thing else to destroy the nobility of character. 

God has made us masters over the lives of animals. To be cruel 
to animals, to hurt them wantonly, to make them work excessively 
is an abuse of the trust and authority God gave us, and it betrays 
a mean and low disposition. 

If it is necessary to kill an animal it should be killed as quickly 
and painlessly as possible. To make it suffer unnecessary pains 
implies an act of faithlessness to the trust God confided to us and 
an act of barbarity to a creature that is unable to help itself. 
People who are cruel to animals are also cruel and heartless to 
human beings over whom they have power. 

That you may understand what influence cruelty to animals has 
upon the formation of character it will be enough to ask you to- 
wards which animals a boy will be cruel. A boy will never try 
to be cruel to an animal that is able to resent the cruelty by doing 
injury to the boy. He will pick out some small animal, an insect, 
a butterfly, or the cat — and tantalize them. Does this not show 
cowardice in the boy ? As a fact, cowardice and cruelty go hand in 
hand. A coward will always be cruel to those weaker than him- 
self. Upon them he practices the spite and malice that he dare not 



FURTHER THOUGHTS UPON THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT 195 



show towards those stronger than he. He makes the weaker ones 
suffer innocently for the wrongs, real or imaginary, that he suffers 
from those stronger than himself. 

You know how the world hates a coward, how unhappy he is, 
and what a poor likeness of God is his mean, little and shrivelled 
up soul. Avoid, then, cruelty to animals. Never permit yourself 
or others to be cruel to animals, but be at all times ready to defend 
the weak against the strong. By so doing you will build up a 
noble character, a character that will be the pride of God and His 
angels and your consolation in life and death. 



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XXXIL The Wages of Sin 

My dear Boys: There is no subject upon which a priest will 
talk more reluctantly than upon the subject of impurity. Yet, the 
times in which we live, the many temptations to w^hich you are ex- 
posed in your tender years, make such instruction a most solemn 
duty to the priest. Were I to remain silent upon this subject, I 
should be guilty of gross neglect of duty. Let us first say a Hail 
Mary to implore the most pure Mother that she may, through her 
Divine Son, grant us the grace to derive profit from the considera- 
tion of this difficult subject. 

There are poisons so dangerous and deadly that even their very 
fumes and smell kill. In like manner the sins of impurity, even 
the slightest impure thought, if entertained knowingly and will- 
ingly, destroy the spiritual life of the soul. There is nothing small 
or trivial in sins against holy purity. You have been told that these 
sins may be committed in thoughts and desires, words and actions. 
This should put us all the more on our guard. Most other sins are 
committed because of a temptation presented by some one of our 
senses or faculties. But regarding holy purity, the devil assails us 
from all sides at the same time. Temptation may be caused through 
the eyes, the ears, the tongue, even the sense of touch. Our mind, 
our imagination, our memory, our will, they are all equally exposed 
to the same temptations. If we bear in mind that this sin of im- 
purity can attack any and aU of our bodily senses, any and all of 
our mental faculties, then we begin to understand the dreadful hold 
this sin can gain upon people. It may not be so difficult to defend 
ourselves against the attacks of one foe: but when we are attacked 
from all sides, when all our senses and mental faculties are attacked 



THE WAGES OF SIN 



197 



at the same time, the fight is a dreadful one. But even then we 
need not despair, for the greater the temptation the greater will be 
the amount of graces to overcome them. 

A special reason, then, why we should be upon our guard against 
impurity, is that we can be attacked at any time and from all sides. 
Another reason why we must be on our guard is the way of the 
world. Outside of our holy faith there is little knowledge and ap- 
prehension about this vice. The world admits it in a general way, 
not as a vice or crime, but as a passing and harmless inclination. 
And the world finds all kinds of excuses for it. Hence we must 
be on our guard and not let the mistaken notion of the world take 
hold of us. Of sins, too vile to be mentioned, the world thinks 
little; indeed, it passes them off as a joke. The world calls our 
view an old-fashioned idea about the right way of living. The 
world will say that you are behind the times. You may even hear 
indifferent Catholics making such remarks. Therefore, unless you 
are on your guard, you will begin to doubt and then to question 
the teaching of our holy religion upon this subject. 

But if sins against holy purity are harmless, if they are nothing 
but a joke, what about the physical ruin, the dreadful diseases in- 
duced by this loathsome sin? 

The world may make little of the sins against holy purity, but 
the fact remains that the world enforces secrecy concerning them. 
The foul-mouthed boy or man will be careful not to unload his 
foul talk at the wrong time or place. The boy given to dirty 
talk will never use an improper word in presence of his mother 
or of his sisters. Were there no harm in them, why could not these 
remarks be made in their presence ? The boy or man guilty of im- 
proper actions will look for the cover of night and privacy for their 
indulgence. If these actions were harmless, why is he so careful 



198 CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 

in hiding them? The fact is that these sins are so shocking and 
so humiliating that a boy will in truth be ashamed of himself. In 
his heart he knows he does wrong, and so much does he dread the 
evil that may and must follow that he tries to have these sins kept 
under cover. But, no matter with what secrecy and privacy the 
sinner may surround himself, the sins will not remain a secret for 
ever. And, what makes matters worse, the guilty party will be 
his own accuser. The sins he tried to hide from all the world he 
himself will reveal to the whole world. 

You may ask, how does a sinner reveal his sins? Who causes 
him to betray himself? God, who has set a reward for every good 
deed, has also set a punishment for each and every evil action. The 
worse the crime the greater the punishment must be. And the most 
humiliating punishment for sins against holy purity in this life is 
inevitable acknowledgment of these sins. You inquire how the 
sinners reveal these sins ? You may know that every characteristic 
trait of a person is imprinted upon his face. You can tell without 
much experience whether a man is jolly or severe, whether he is 
a miser or a cheerful spender, whether he has an ugly temper or 
whether he has a gentle disposition, whether he is frank and candid 
or cunning and deceiving. The face will have certain lines, the 
mouth and eyes will have a certain expression that paint to the 
character of the person. 

And so does impurity place a stamp upon the face, and marks 
it with a sign of warning. A person may have a homely face. Yet 
if that homely face bears the stamp of kindness and charity, it will 
possess attraction and charm. Such was the face of Lincoln. But 
the most beautiful face will be repulsive if it bears the mark of im- 
purity. We revfeal our character, our virtues, and faults in our 
faces. Our faces are open books to all that can read. We may 



THE WAGES OF SIN 



199 



hide our hands, we may disguise the body ; but the face remains the 
open book for all. 

Nor is this all the punishment God meets out to the impure. He 
sends the sinner various forms of sickness as part of the punish- 
ment. The sinner will be ashamed to reveal his condition even to 
a doctor. Often there is nothing that can stop the ravages of the 
dreadful sickness. The sinner, aware of his fate, is grasped by 
despair. He suffers for the rest of his days the pains of hell in 
his miserable decaying body, and, unless he truly repents, faces 
eternal damnation in the life to come. And the world looks upon 
this sin as a joke, a harmless human trait. Is it not plain that the 
world is greatly mistaken if we consider the consequences of this 
sin? You can hardly pick up a paper these days without reading 
of a young man or young woman having committed suicide. To 
spare relatives, the papers will state that the unfortunate per- 
son had been in poor health for some time, and was at the time 
momentarily insane. You will probably find it stated that the 
deceased had a large circle of friends, that the news is a shock 
and surprise to all, and no reason can be imagined to explain the 
rash act. 

All of which is well enough to tell the public, but it does not 
state an explanation of the act. When the impure see ahead of 
them sure death and disgrace, then, if they have lost all faith, which 
is usually the case, the next thing they think of is suicide. It seems 
to them the lesser evil. 

That the sins of impurity must be horrible beyond the power of 
words to express must be taken from the fact that all this 
physical misery is only a small part of the punishment. The just 
God adds to it in many cases the loss of faith. Loss of faith leads 



2CX) 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



to eternal damnation. From the greatness of the punishment we 
may judge how much God abhors this sin. 

Great as the allurements may be, great as the dangers are, still 
greater are the graces to overcome the temptations to this sin. 

To avoid these dreadful sins we must take proper precautions. 
Hence let me lay down three rules for your conduct: 

In the first place, you must keep away from bad company. Bad 
company, bad books, bad theatres, are all alike in their consequence. 
Immoral companions may be ever so polished, entertaining and 
full of fun, you must shun them altogether. Countless thousands 
have gone the way of perdition through bad company; do not try 
to swell their ranks by becoming one of their number. 

In the second place, you must frequently receive the holy Sac- 
raments. In many cases impurity will be the reason why boys stay 
away from Confession and Communion. If you have had the mis- 
fortune of committing such a sin, do not make a bad Confession 
by not revealing it. And then there may be no more chance for 
have to reveal it. And then there may be no more chance for 
pardon. It may be out of the question for most of you to go to 
holy Communion every morning. But with real good-will you will 
be able to receive holy Communion every Sunday. That weekly 
Communion will be your greatest protection in preserving, the 
purity of body and soul. 

In the third place, practise a childlike devotion to our Blessed 
Mother, the most pure Virgin. Not one of your daily prayers 
should be ended without a prayer to the Queen of Virgins. We 
can do our Blessed Mother no greater favor, nor cause her more 
pleasure, than by asking her to pray for us that we may remain 
pure in heart and mind, for love of her and of her Divine Son. 



THE BEAUTY OF PURITY 



20I 



XXXIII. The Beauty of Purity 

My dear Boys: As there is no vice more loathsome and hor- 
rible than impurity, so purity is of all virtues the most charming 
and beautiful. Not without good reason has the spotless and 
fragrant lily been chosen as the emblem of that angelic virtue. 
And if you wish to know what God thinks of this great virtue pay 
attention to what I am going to say. 

In the first place, no virtue demands greater sacrifice and more 
care than this virtue. St. Jerome calls this virtue a living martyr- 
dom. The sufferings of the blessed martyrs were generally of 
comparatively short duration. The martyrdom which this virtue 
exacts of us lasts for one's ientire life. We must guard not only 
one of our senses or faculties, but all of them. All senses and 
faculties are exposed to temptations against holy purity, and so 
we must keep all of our senses and mental faculties under careful 
control. We must guard our eyes like a St. Aloysius, our ears like 
a St. Stanislaus, our lips like a St. John. The self-denial demanded 
by this constant watchfulness is severe enough to be regarded by 
the Fathers of the Church as a martyrdom. 

Another reason why God values this virtue so highly is because 
purity is the crown of all other virtues. It presupposes the pres- 
ence of many if not all other virtues. They that are pure of 
heart love prayer. They have the virtue of piety. They must be 
truly humble of heart, they must at all times consider their in- 
firmity and pray for grace and strength. Needless to say, God will 
never be deaf to the prayers of the humble. Again, the pure of 
heart love the virtues of penance, of self-denial, of charity. They 
must have the virtues of meekness, of patience, and of zeal for 



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the glory of God. They must practise the three divine virtues of 
Faith, Hope and Charity, in such a perfect manner that the other 
virtues find their support and strength in them. 

Another reason that makes us understand why God thinks so 
much of the virtue of purity is that the pure live the life of angels. 
For that reason this virtue is often called the angelic virtue. The 
saints that have shone preeminently in it, like a St. Aloysius, have 
been called "Angels in the Flesh." The reward, then, will be the 
reward of the angels. Indeed, the virtue of purity in the human 
soul is even of a higher order than the purity of the angels, and 
hence will be given a reward far above that of the angels. The 
reason of this will be apparent to you if you reflect that the angels 
preserve their purity without any of the temptations to which the 
flesh is heir. The angels have not to guard the senses, the 
eyes, the ears and the tongue. They have no idea of what it means 
to resist inclinations towards evil. For these reasons the reward 
will be greater for the human soul that remains pure, than for the 
angels. 

If, from what has been said, you gain the impression that, owing 
to the many sacrifices which purity demands, the life of the pure 
is a sad and gloomy existence, you are mistaken. With all its con- 
stant martyrdom it is the happiest life on earth. 

You know from Bible History that Paradise contained many 
trees, only one of which was forbidden to our first parents. The 
fruit they were allowed to eat was far more choice than that of 
the one forbidden tree. In a similar manner, the pure at heart 
know of many pleasures, consolations and joys that are withheld 
from those who give themselves up to impurity. 

Purity gives a peculiar expression to your bearing and char- 
acter. It may, perhaps, be too subtle to analyze or explain, but you 



THE BEAUTY OF PURITY 



are convinced that it is there. A pure boy and young man will 
be of a happy mind. His cheerfulness does not depend upon the 
weather. His eyes sparkle with a fire not of this world. Trees 
and flowers, lawful pleasures, labor, and rest, they all give him a 
gratification of which the worldly minded have no idea. The pure 
at heart see beauty and charm where the sinful see only the com- 
monplace. How much better is it to enjoy such tranquility, such 
peace of mind, than to live in fear and gloom, than to be suffering 
tortures of conscience that the hidden sins will become known. Is 
it not worth a great deal to be able to look every man straight in 
the eye, without having to fear that he might read the meaning 
of a secret line in our face that would tell of a sinful life? 

The peace of mind that purity gives would indeed be reward 
enough for this life. But God in His high regard for this virtue 
offers many more rewards for a life of purity. 

As impurity undermines health and causes loathsome disease, 
the virtue of purity is the surest means of promoting health and 
strength of body. A strong constitution and undefiled blood are 
the best protection against most sicknesses. Nothing in all Creation 
is grander than the sight of a pure boy or young man growing up 
in all his strength and beauty of health, and with an innocent and 
honest look in his eye. Purity enobles and elevates even our body, 
giving it a charm that is the delight of God and His angels. Even 
the wicked are both awed and inspired at the sight of a pure young 
man. They may be unwilling to be pure themselves, but, never- 
theless, they are compelled to admire and respect purity in others. 

God in His infinite generosity adorns the soul as well as the body 
of the pure. But He beautifies the soul of the pure far more than 
the body. 

To the pure of heart God will grant more graces, and more 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



valuable graces, than to those that must go to heaven by way of 
penance. They that go to heaven upon the path of innocence, re- 
ceive the choicest blessings and graces. Purity gives them a more 
complete insight into the plans of God. Through special graces 
they receive warning beforehand of impending temptations and 
dangers. Purity gives them a greater and more pure love of God, 
thus preparing them to undergo any sacrifice, to suffer even death, 
rather than to forfeit the priceless charm of purity. 

As most people that lose their salvation lose it through impurity, 
so is the virtue of purity one of the safest marks of belonging to 
the elect. About the joys and rewards of the world to come our 
dear Saviour has told us very little. But He did reveal that the 
pure will receive there a special reward. They are to stand 
nearest to His Throne, and are to chant a song of praise that no 
one else will be able to sing. 

Now, my dear boys, when we consider all these advantages and 
all the bodily and spiritual, temporal and eternal rewards, should 
we not be induced to preserve the virtue of purity? In no other 
way can we gain the consolations, the peace of mind, the manifold 
blessings for body and soul for time and eternity. Surely, the prize 
is worth every effort we can put forth. 

The question that now remains to be answered is what must 
we do to preserve this virtue of purity? And in answering this 
question I can advise you to do what the saints have done to pre- 
serve that priceless jewel. 

First of all, the saints constantly lived in the presence of God. 
One thought was at all times uppermost in their minds. They 
realized that, no matter where they were, no matter what they did, 
God was at their side. That thought gave them strength to fight 
against the temptations, to sufYer anything for the love of God. 



THE BEAUTY OF PURITY 



205 



By constantly keeping God before their mind, the saints turned 
suffering into joy and trials into victories. Where others were 
overwhelmed with temptations because they lost sight of God, the 
saints accepted and conquered temptations as a matter of course. 
In the fiercest assaults of the devil they had but one thought, — 
God. And, like Joseph in Egypt, they asked themselves: "How 
can I do this sin in the presence of my God?" The thought of God's 
presence was at once the consolation, the strength, the hope, and 
the happiness of the saints. 

And how did the saints manage always to think of God? They 
lived in a spirit of prayer. Unfortunately, we have an idea that 
prayer is a formal affair — a few minutes each day — and that we 
spend the rest of the time in an entirely different atmosphere, as it 
were. Now this is a sad mistake. Even when our lips do not move 
in prayer, we can and we should keep alive the spirit of prayer. 
Excepting only sin, is there anything in this world that does not 
remind us of God? The sky with the handwriting of God upon it, 
the trees and flowers, the hills and the waters, the fields laden with 
the gifts of God, our senses and mental faculties, the very work 
we do, — everything can and should keep the thought of God con- 
stantly in our mind. True piety does not consist in the few short 
prayers we utter with our lips, but in a constant disposition to 
connect evierything we see and do with God. This is the meaning 
of the spirit of prayer. The saints made a prayer of their every 
act. Every act of penance, every act of self-denial, every act of 
charity was simply nothing else than a prayer. Their entire life was 
one constant prayer. 

This spirit of prayer implies regular Confessions and frequent 
Holy Communion. Do you know why our Holy Father is so 
anxious in insisting upon frequent Holy Communions, even daily 



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where possible? It is for no other reason than to keep mankind 
pure. 

If sinners would begin to go to Confession and Holy Communion 
as frequently as the saints and with the same zeal, they, too, would 
become saints. As a rule, however, those that need penance most 
will be the last to do it; those that need the Sacraments most are 
the most negligent in receiving them. They are compelled to re- 
ceive the Sacraments at Easter time, but then many receive them 
not because they love God and their soul, but because of the law. 
It stands to reason that these people lack the spirit of prayer and, 
hence, endanger their purity of heart. 

Besides the spirit of prayer, the saints shine forth as models of 
a childlike devotion to our Blessed Mother. Sincere devotion to 
our Blessed Mother is taken as a guarantee of eternal happiness. 
The favors and blessings she secures are in proportion to the honor 
given to her. Hence we need not be surprised that her special ad- 
mirers and clients receive special benefits. We learn this from 
the lives of the saints. The greatest of favors she can obtain for 
the children that love her most is the jewel and crown of all 
virtues, — purity. 

The virtue of purity is, therefore, worth our every effort. Even 
the loss of life would be small in comparison with the loss of this 
angelic virtue. In order to preserve and develop this virtue we 
must follow the example set us by the saints. Let us, then, live 
in a spirit of piety and practice a childlike devotion to our Blessed 
Mother. Let us live a life of angels so that we may share in their 
glory. 



DISHONESTY 



207 



XXXIV. Dishonesty 

My dear Boys: A boy or young man starting out in life must 
bear in mind that he owes it to himself and to his family to estab- 
lish a reputation for himself. His honesty or dishonesty will be 
the standard whereby this reputation shall be measured. 

You will easily understand that the boy who is a plain thief 
will not long be found in the ranks of the sodality. His place will 
be found for him in some reformatory. But there are many other 
ways of being dishonest, which, though at the start they may be 
overlooked and pardoned as boyish pranks, are nevertheless fatal 
in their consequences. Apart from the fact that nothing is ever 
gained by dishonesty, owing to the obligation of restoring things 
that were taken unlawfully, and of replacing the equivalent of 
things that were injured or destroyed, there is another disadvan- 
tage in being dishonest. It is the forfeit of the esteem and good 
will of our fellow man. And the loss of reputation or of char- 
acter is a loss that no amount of ill-gotten gain can outweigh. 

A boy who shows a disposition towards dishonesty will reveal 
this pernicious trait without being aware of it. People will not be 
long in guessing about a dishonest boy. Nor will they be slow in 
showing their distrust. 

The dishonest boy usually shows a liking for pranks that do 
harm. He is ready to wantonly injure and destroy the property 
of others. Windows of vacant houses, young trees, fences and 
gates, flowers and shrubs are the special objects of his fancy. 
Never for a moment does he seem to realize that all the damage he 
inflicts will have to be made good. He destroys for the sake of 
destroying. His pranks may be looked upon by some as thought- 



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less pranks. The dishonest boy enjoys it if the owner of the 
injured things gets vexed and scolds. 

The dishonest boy is great at finding articles. At least he says 
he is. He finds pocket knives, playthings, small change and other 
things that may look a great deal like the knife or playthings that 
disappeared from your possession. But he will claim that finding 
means keeping. Later on, when he goes to work, the employer or 
foreman soon notices that things are disappearing. He will not know 
how to explain the loss till he begins to suspect the boy. Whatever 
the boy works at, he at once considers it his right to take things 
home if it can be done without exposing himself to the risk of 
being caught. The things he will take will be small articles that 
can easily be hidden and the loss of which will not amount to 
much. When he works by the piece, he will find a means of 
charging up more work than he has done. In his opinion that is 
not stealing. That is only a matter of cleverness. It is a calamity 
of the present time that any amount of dishonesty, even plain steal- 
ing, goes under the name of business. Only a small percentage of 
the thieves are put in jail. Many crooks are too clever to fall into 
the clutches of the law. Their ill-gotten means enable them to have 
able lawyers, and justice is often hoodwinked. But God, the Su- 
preme Judge, has said in plain words : "Thou shalt not steal." There 
are no exceptions to this law. 

Eventually, the dishonest boy will be caught and he loses his 
place. He looks elsewhere for work. In a new place he may suc- 
ceed for a while, but the reputation he made for himself will fol- 
low him. It means looking for another job. He may find work 
in another town, but his evil reputation will be like his shadow. 
It will not leave him. 

A man does not become either saint or criminal in one day. The 



DISHONESTY 



2og 



process in either direction takes years. When, therefore, you read 
of a man having been convicted of some great theft, you may be 
sure that he has been a thief for many years before. It is probable 
that he began with steaHng pennies and pencils. His vice grew 
with the number of times it was committed. So it is with vice; 
it grows and keeps step with the reputation it deserves. Bad repu- 
tation and vice go hand in hand. When you see a tree branching 
out you know that the roots of that tree are spread in proportion 
to its branches and twigs. And the more a vice spreads at the 
root, the more will its bad reputation spread out in all directions. 

For that reason, then, a boy makes a fatal mistake when he 
thinks he can confine his dishonesty to things of little importance. 
He can not be dishonest even in little matters without at the same 
time losing his reputation for honesty. 

Unless a tree is cut down or destroyed in some way its roots will 
continue to spread, and so will its branches spread in proportion. 
In like manner, vice will grow from bad to worse, and one's repu- 
tation with it, unless the vice is torn up root and all. Hence, 
though the dishonest boy will not intend to commit mortal sin, he 
will drift into it and, to save himself the reproach of conscience, 
he will excuse his sins under the title of cleverness or good business. 
The big thieves in jail will tell you they never intended stealing as 
much as they did. But they saw the chance, and could not help 
themselves. A_s a rule, they will feel more sorry for having been 
caught than for thfe wrong they committed. Whether, if they get 
another chance of stealing, they will remain honest, remains to be 
seen. As a rule, a cat will not quit catching mice. That is its in- 
stinct. And it is a hard matter for a thief not to steal when 
he sees the chance. Stealing has become a habit with him. He 
may possibly have looked upon the whole matter as a joke at 



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first. But it is anything but a joke for him when he finds himself 
behind iron bars. His photograph and measurements are sent all 
over the country, and henceforth he will be a marked man. 
Wherever he may go he will find himself the object of the de- 
tectives' attention. Every movement he makes is carefully 
watched. Such, then, is the life of a thief. The world shows 
him no mercy. It may seem pitiable in some particular instances; 
yet one cannot blame people for guarding their own interests. 
When a boy or young man abuses the confidence people place in 
him, when he can no longer be trusted, it is little wonder that he 
finds himself watched and distrusted. What other treatment does 
he deserve? It means nothing else but reaping what he has sown. 

Of course, if a repentent thief returns his ill-gotten gains, and 
tries to redeem himself, he deserves our pity and our good will. 
When he tries to turn over a new leaf, to start a new life, we 
should give him every encouragement that discretion will suggest. 
But these instances happen so rarely that it will not only be ad- 
visable but necessary to be on our guard in dealing with those 
who have lost their reputation. 

Seeing to what dire results dishonesty leads, you should cer- 
tainly be resolved to be scrupulously honest in all matters large and 
small. In honesty, as in everything else, it is the small things that 
tell. It is the little things to which you may attach little impor- 
tance, that others go by in sizing you up. We must never overlook 
trifles. Our dear Saviour Himself lays stress upon them, since 
He says: ''Bfecause thou hast been faithful in little things I will 
place thee over many." 

You may have many things from home, a certain influence, means, 
a good name, a certain rank or position in life and business. But 
all things you may inherit amount to little in making your success 



DISHONESTY 



211 



permanent. The reputation that is yours must be made by your- 
selves. The good name of your father or grandfather will help 
you very little if you fail in keeping up your reputation. The good 
name and reputation of your father or grandfather, that took them 
long years to establish, may be lost in the time of a few hours by 
your own foolish or malicious conduct. Their good name will 
then no longer be a protection or help to you. Hence, bear in 
mind that you yourselves must establish your reputation for hon- 
esty. No one will take your word for your reputation. It must 
be proved by your actions. People are only too readily inclined to 
think evil. The least suspicion against your honesty will often be 
passed around from one to another, and it may even happen, as it 
has happened more than once, that your reputation will suffer even 
when you are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing. Therefore, be 
honest in the smallest things, even though they are of no greater 
value than a pin. Let people feel that you can be trusted, that 
you are reliable, that you are honest, that you never abuse their 
trust or confidence, and thus you will build up a reputation for 
yourselves which will be a greater asset in life than either money 
or power. 



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XXXV. Various Kinds of Lies 

My Dear Boys : Speaking of lies, it may be well to bear in mind 
that not all lies are begotten by the tongue. We can lie also by our 
actions. A sincere Protestant told me that if he were a minister, he 
would use but one text of the Bible for all of his sermons, and that 
text is: "Thou shalt not bear false witness." No doubt, if people 
would or could fully realize what injury they inflict upon them- 
selves and others by lying, there would probably be an end to lying. 
Instead of that, however, the majority of people think little of lies. 
If by a lie people can avoid some little inconvenience, then they see 
no harm whatever in lying. Still St. Augustine says: "They that 
lie are children of the devil, because he is the father of lies." 

The reason why God despises lying lips is because He is the God 
of Truth. Christ says of Himself : "I am the way, the truth and 
the life." Hence to be guilty of lying is to offer an insult to the 
truth that God so much loves. No matter how harmless a lie may 
appear at the surface, still, as a lie, it is opposed to the truth of 
God, and because it is opposed to truth, God must despise it. 

Lies range from venial sins to mortal sins. If the injury or less 
suffered by others on account of our lie is a great one, the lie is 
a mortal sin. Where injury or loss are slight, or if there is no loss 
or injury, the lie is only a venial sin. It is at times very difficult 
to say where venial sin stops and mortal sin begins. Therefore, if 
our conscience causes us any misgivings as to the gravity of a lie, it 
will be for the advantage of our peace of mind to confess the lie, 
whether it may be mortal or venial, and abide by the decision of the 
Confessor. 

Lies are sometimes classified as jocose lies; lies said in a spirit 



VARIOUS KINDS OF LIES 



213 



of levity to pass off an untruth as the truth. Such lies, though 
intended for jokes, may not always end as jokes. Some years ago, 
a farmer at work in the field was told on April Fool's day to hurry 
home, as his house had burnt to the ground. The news was such 
a shock to him that he dropped dead. The joker had not meant 
any harm. It had been intended as an April-fool joke, but that did 
not bring the dead man back to life. When a jocose remark is 
obviously not true, it is not a lie since there is no intention to 
deceive. A lie includes the intention of deceiving, of making some- 
one believe an untruth as though it were the truth. 

Then there are officious lies. We are often asked about private, 
personal or business affairs by people who have not the right or 
privilege to ask; people to whom we are not responsible for our 
actions. And sometimes we think that by telling them a lie we will 
avoid giving them information we do not desire to give. Even 
though this may not injure them in the least, it is still a lie and as 
such displeasing to God, the lover of truth. To tell such people 
abruptly that their questions are impertinent might cause hard feel- 
ing, even enmity. To tell them the truth may, at times, be im- 
prudent. So the only lawful way out of the difficulty is to give 
evasive answers to such questions. St. Thomas of Canterbury gives 
us an examj)le of 'this kind. Some of the nobles at the king's court 
discovered that St. Thomas, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was 
disliked by the king, and they made up their minds that he must 
die. St. Thomas heard of this and, disguising himself, mounted a 
horse and fled. Some of the soldiers that were to kill him met him 
on the road. They asked him whether he was the archbishop. He 
could not say "no," for that would have been a lie; if he said "yes," 
they would kill him on the spot. So he said: "Do I look like an 
archbishop traveling?" The soldiers, knowing that bishops and 



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archbishops traveled with a large body of servants and guards, then 
went their way without molesting him. Some time later St. Thomas 
gladly gave up his life that the lives of others might be spared. 
St. Thomas loved truth and hated iniquity, and for that reason he 
made a bitter enemy of his king. It was for truth that the Saint 
finally suffered and died. 

Then there are the so-called lies of necessity. To save little or 
great annoyances to ourselves or others, people do not hesitate to 
tell lies. Also in such cases an evasive answer is advisable and 
allowed. For instance, you may be asked by some boy for the loan 
of a quarter. You may in the past have loaned him money that he 
has never given back. And you know beforehand that if you lend 
him more you will never see the money again. Now, a correct 
answer would be that you have no money to lend, meaning — not to 
him. 

Then there are lies said with the object of shifting blame we 
have deserved upon others who are innocent of the charge. Such 
lies are a sure sign of a cruel and cowardly character. You may 
have broken a windowpane or some furniture at home. There was 
neither malice nor forethought in your act. It was an accident. 
But you know that your parents think a great deal of the article 
that has been broken and you fear your parents will be very angry. 
You are asked about it and you blame your smaller brother or sister 
for it, and even say you saw them break it. Though they say they 
did not do it, they are unable to prove their innocence and must 
take the punishment that should be yours. You will only under- 
stand how mean such conduct is when you yourself will some time 
suffer for the faults of another. The guilty party may consider it a 
joke to make another get the scolding. But it is a very poor sort 
of a joke; a joke that has a sharp sting. Others may join in the 



VARIOUS KINDS OF LIES 



215 



laugh at the expense of the innocent party, but the guilty party 
reveals a treacherous, mean and ugly character, and that joke will 
be a danger signal for others. They will thereafter keep on the 
safe side of you. They will take good care that such a like joke 
shall never be played at their expense. 

Such so-called lies of necessity are not much of a joke. If the 
injury or loss inflicted upon an innocent party is a serious matter, 
the lie becomes a mortal sin. Nor is it enough to simply confess 
such a sin. The injury or loss resulting from that sin must be 
compensated. Unless we repair the loss or injury that we thus 
cause, the sin will not be forgiven. We are allowed to repair 
injury caused by dishonesty without exposing ourselves as thieves. 
But the restitution caused by our falsehood forces us to expose 
ourselves. We must admit that we have told a lie. 

Therefore, if we do not like to pose before the world as liars, 
we must avoid lies that cause harm to others. If we have done 
wrong, let us be manly enough to admit it. Most of our Httle faults 
and many of our greater faults will be overlooked and pardoned 
if we are manly enough to admit them. No one is above mistakes. 
People will overlook many things for the good reason that others 
may overlook their shortcomings. But they demand that we be up- 
right and manly. Our reputation may suffer by other faults, yet 
we may be able to redeem ourselves. But if by lying we cause 
suffering or loss to an innocent party, we tear our reputation into 
shreds. You see, then, that, by shifting blame and responsibilities 
upon others, we are the losers, even though, for the time being, we 
may escape blame or punishment for our bad actions. 

As I said in the beginning of this conference, there are other lies 
besides those told by the tongue. These lies are characterized by 
the word deceit. You may know some people that are nice and 



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kind to your face. They flatter you, encourage you, have all kinds 
of pleasant things to tell you. Yet their purpose and aim are to 
harm you. They pose as friends, and at the same time they are 
your worst enemies. Their advise will try to make you act 
in a way to injure yourself. You may be sure of another thing. 
These deceitful people will be cunning enough to profit out of the 
mistakes you make by their advice. They will be around you as 
long as they see some benefit coming to themselves. The moment 
you are no longer useful to them, they will cast you aside as one 
would throw away a squeezed lemon. 

There is another kind of deceit to which I must call your atten- 
tion. It is sanctimoniousness. A certain class of people, like the 
Pharisees of old, will try to convey the impression that they are 
extremely pious and God-fearing, although they are secretly rather 
the opposite. You will usually see them making a big sign of the 
Cross when they bless themselves, you will hear them tell how 
much they pray, but they will be most severe judges of their fellow- 
beings. They will never miss a chance to enlarge the faults of 
others and they lament about the wickedness of mankind. They 
will also behind your back rip up your reputation — if they can safely 
do so. 

Deceit is as low and disgraceful as any lie spoken by the lips. 
Oftentimes its evil consequences are more far-reaching than those 
of a spoken lie. 

Learn, then, to train both your tongue and your actions, to speak 
never an untruth, to abhor lying and deceit, and to avoid those who 
practise these vices. 



DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER 



217 



XXXVI. Defamation of Character 

My dear Boys: When you wear your Sunday clothes you are 
very careful not to soil or tear them. When you have your every- 
day suit on, you care little what you do. You run, jump, roll on 
the ground, and play ball, not caring whether you soil or tear your 
clothes by sliding to a base. If you do soil or tear them you think : 
Well, there is not much lost. But, when you have your Sunday 
clothes on, you act with great caution. Your Sunday suit has con- 
siderable influence upon your actions and general bearing. Now, 
the consideration the Sunday suit requires of our outward actions, 
the consideration of character, or good reputation, requires of our 
interior life. 

People without a good reputation are like boys without Sunday 
clothes. Neither cares very much what is done, since there is noth- 
ing much to lose or spoil. People, however, that have a reputation to 
live up to, are careful in what they say or do. Like the boy with 
his Sunday suit, they have something to look out for. 

A good reputation, then is one of the most valuable possessions 
of a man. He may have money in the bank, he may have all kinds 
of precious stones and jewels, may own shares in railways, he may 
be proud of his health, his strength, his family, his home, his talents. 
But all these possessions are as nothing in comparison to his good 
name. Ask him which he would rather lose, his wealth or his good 
name, and he will answer : "I would rather lose all I have than for- 
feit my good name." It may be easy for him to make another for- 
tune, but to regain a good name or reputation that has once been 
lost is extremely difficult. If he were asked whether he preferred 
his good reputation or his health, he will tell you he would sooner 



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lose his health. For with care and the skill of a doctor he may re- 
gain his health, but to regain a lost reputation is next to impossible. 
If he were asked whether he would not rather lose his good name 
than his life, he would say: "I will rather sacrifice my life, for 
without a fair reputation life itself is worthless." You know, boys, 
as well as I, that many boys have no good reputation. Their faults 
and vices are by no means hidden. They commit them openly, 
even boast of them. But can you call them happy? Does anybody 
who is respectable say a kind word for them? Are they not mis- 
trusted and watched? Do you not know as well as the rest that 
the future of these boys will in all probability be spent in jails and 
prisons, that even their graves may proclaim their unfortunate 
lives? You see, then, that a life without a good name is a useless 
and unhappy life. Man has nothing in this whole, wide world that 
he appreciates more than his good reputation. With this thought in 
mind, you will be able to understand, at least to some extent, what 
a cruel wrong it is to injure or take away the good name of another. 
By taking his money you obtain something. By taking away his 
good name you are not richer by a single penny, yet you take from 
him the best he has, — the thing worth more to him than all his 
money, and health, and life itself. 

Now the question arises: How can one injure or take away the 
good reputation of another? 

In the first place, we injure the reputation of another by expos- 
ing his hidden faults. You are well aware of the fact that all of 
us have faults. We are ashamed of them, try to keep them hidden, 
try to overcome them. Such is the endeavor of all that are well dis- 
posed. The hidden faults that Tom, Dick and Harry have are 
theirs. No one else has any business exposing them, because every- 
one else has faults of his own. And, if he thinks anything of his 



DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER 



219 



good name, he will try to keep his own faults hidden and try to 
avoid them. But here we have to take account of poor, weak 
human nature which is tempted to hide its own faults by calling 
attention to faults of others. It is likewise easy to increase the 
number of our hidden faults, instead of lessening them from year 
to year. And so it happens that, while trying to save our good 
name, we are inclined to harm the good name of another. To ex- 
pose the hidden faults of others means making them public or open 
faults. Again it is a weakness of human nature to spread rather 
the faults of others than their good qualities. No matter what 
good a man may accomplish, his motives will be questioned. The 
work itself will be belittled. The more it shines forth as a work 
of living faith, the more it will be hushed up and ignored. But let 
a good man make the least false step and it will be made public 
fast enough. The evil tongues will wag and wag and say : 'Why, 
so-and-so always pretended to be so good — and just listen to what 
he said, what he did." And even this will not satisfy the wicked 
tongue. The next remark will be something like this : "If so-and-so 
has done this, you may be sure it was not the first time. He did 
worse than that, — only it was not found out." This brings suspi- 
cions upon suspicions. Thereafter, if it is at all possible to connect 
his name with evil, even when there is no probability or even pos- 
sibility — his reputation will be assailed and gossip grows to calumny. 

As an excuse for gossip it will sometimes be said that the fault 
exposed was a real fault. "It is nothing but the truth." Granting 
the fault to be a real fault, that does not entitle us to publish it. We 
too, have some real faults, yet we will scarcely feel inclined to 
give anybody permission to spread the news all over the town. If 
we are not by our office or relation responsible for the behavior of 
others, their faults need not worry us. The less we speak and 



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even think of them, the better for us. It may, however, be well to 
remark at this time that there are two instances when we are al- 
lowed to talk of the hidden faults of others. If you know of a boy 
who is addicted to a particular sin, especially if it be some mortal sin, 
either of two ways are open to you. If you think you have influ- 
ence over him or that he would take it in good part, you may call 
him aside at a suitable time and give him 'a kindly talk about the 
fault of which he is guilty. Then argue and reason with him, try 
and convince him that he is doing grave injustice to himself, and 
that you are actuated only by a motive of charity in talking to him 
about it. If you, however, have reason to fear that your kind ad- 
vice will not he taken in good part, it will be advisable to report his 
conduct to the teacher, if he still goes to school, or to his parents if 
he has left school. But if you know that his parents are lax and 
that they approve of everything their boy does, it may not be pru- 
dent to inform them. Very likely they know the shortcomings of 
their boy. In that case all you can do is to pray for him — and keep 
silent. 

If you have been guilty of exposing the hidden faults of others 
you are bound to make restitution by speaking to those who heard 
you about the good qualities of those injured. Even then you 
have reason to fear that the injury your talk caused will not be 
entirely remedied. Some of your listeners certainly spread your 
remarks or even added to them. Your talk may have had a far 
greater reach than you ever expected. Therefore make it a rule 
never to talk about the faults of others. 

The injury that may result from exposing the hidden faults of 
others is certainly bad enough. But a still greater injustice and in- 
jury is committed when, instead of exposing true faults, we invent 
faults of which they are entirely innocent. This is called calumny. 



DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER 



221 



When people suffer by having their secret faults exposed, the par- 
tial loss of their good reputation may be looked upon by them as 
a temporal punishment of their sin. By calumny, however, we 
cause another to suffer innocently a partial loss of his good name 
or his entire good reputation. The victim has done nothing to de- 
serve such a loss. A case of this kind was called to my attention 
some time ago. A poor man had found work as nightwatchman in 
a factory. The wages were small, but they fed the man's family 
of six. One day the manager heard it said that this man had been 
seen drunk. Without giving him a chance to explain or defend 
himself, he was discharged and his family starved for nearly two 
months before he could find other work. He applied at several 
places, but was told he could not get work on account of his bad 
reputation. He never found out his accusers and he was entirely 
innocent of the charge of drunkenness. The injury the innocent 
man and his family had to suffer was extreme. From this one 
example you may see what it means to make good an injury of 
this kind. In this case the guilty party would be bound to get the 
work back for the poor man, and also pay him the loss of wages. 
The guilty party owes an apology to the innocent sufferer, and must 
retract his lies with all those to whom he passed the lie. The full 
restoration of a reputation is almost impossible for two reasons. 
In the first place no man likes to confess that he is a liar. It is ex- 
tremely hard for any man to say : 'T have said this, but I must say 
I have told you a lie. The man is innocent of the charges I made." 
The other reason is the unwillingness of the people to believe the 
truth in such cases and their readiness to spread evil reports. Behold 
how the wind scatters the leaves of a tree. Yet it would be far 
easier to collect the scattered leaves of the tree than to trace the 
course of a calumny. People may know many good points of a 



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man, but they will never be talked about. But give a hint of his 
wrongdoing, whether true, or false, and the news will be spread 
rapidly. Yet, unless we repair the injury, as far as it lies in our 
power to do so, we cannot expect to have the sin of calumny for- 
given. The fact that it is humiliating to expose ourselves as liars 
does not excuse us from retracting a calumny. 

Hence, my dear boys, just as you wish no one to question your good 
name, be very careful never to injure the fair name of another. 
Whenever you hear companions talk against an absent one, take his 
part even though you may have some suspicion that what is being 
said is true. Even though what they say is true, they have no 
right to speak against him. And if their charges are without foun- 
dation, are groundless suspicions or downright lies, you have all the 
more reason to take his part. That will free you from responsibility, 
and help to avoid the many evils resulting from calumny. If you 
have common sense, your judgment will tell you to steer clear of 
a crowd of slanderers. When you have turned your back, they 
will probably attack your fair name. Hence, the less you have to 
do with such people, the better off you are. 



ST. AGAPITUS 



22Z 



XXXVII. St. Agapitus 

My Dear Boys: There are a great many people laboring under 
the mistaken idea that saintliness is a mode of life proper for 
a person who has reached old age. A great many others have the 
equally misleading idea, that a young man must lead a frivolous 
life for some years before there can be any thought of "settling 
down." Owing to this mistaken idea, people will pardon many 
things at twenty which they will not forgive at forty. Still sin 
remains sin, whether committed at ten or seventy years of age. 

Since we belong completely to God, it stands to reason that He 
has a valid claim upon not only the last few years of our lives, 
but the entire life. From the cradle to the grave we are God's. 
Hence we are bound to serve Him not only for a few years, but 
during our whole life. Saintliness, then, must be looked upon as a 
duty that begins to devolve upon us with the use of reason. In- 
deed, the probabilities of ever becoming saints will be far removed, 
if, as boys, we lead sinful lives. It is true, that many have be- 
come saints who as boys gave no indications of future holiness. 
But we must not forget that a great many more have continued 
to walk upon the road of sin up to their last breath. As boys, 
they were bad: as men they grew worse. 

"When our dear Saviour asked us to be just and holy. He did not 
refer merely to our last few years on earth, but to our entire life. 
A good start means a great deal in play and business. It means a 
great deal, too, in holiness. 

To show us the profit of an early start in holiness, the Church 
has countless saints who were models of many virtues even as 
boys. We can do nothing better than call to mind some of these 



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heroes of virtue in order to learn from them how you too may be 
saints even as boys. 

In the first three centuries after Christ there lived some of the 
noblest models of boys. A few of their names have come down 
to us in history. Forest and meadows contain many more flowers 
than we notice by passing through them. So, too, the first ages of 
the Church have a great number of saints, known only to God and 
their guardian angels. The writing of a history of the martyrs 
was not thought of at that time. Later, when men began to record 
the names and deeds of saints, it was natural to overlook countless 
names, and no attempt was made to give a full list of all those 
who gave their life and their all for the sake of Jesus. But, 
although the records are by no means complete, we have many 
examples of boys who sacrificed their lives for the same holy faith, 
that now by the grace of God is ours. Such a boy was St. Agapitus. 

During the time of the Emperor Aurelian there lived a boy who 
by his saintly conduct attracted the attention and admiration of 
even the pagans. To the pagans purity in a boy was a curiosity, 
to say the least. It was something strange. And as they became 
convinced of the purity of this boy, they could not help but admire 
and reverence him. The name of this boy was Agapitus. Finally 
the emperor heard of this saintly boy and expressed a wish to have 
him at the palace. 

Such was the confidence in God of this saintly boy that he went 
fearlessly to the palace of the emperor, although he realized the 
danger to which he exposed himself. The emperor was favorably 
impressed with him and promised him honors and wealth. He 
could have had any position of honor as he grew older, he could 
have had everything in the world that heart and mind can desire 
upon one condition: that he give up his holy faith and become 



ST. AGAPITUS 



225 



again a pagan. But the little saint would rather share the poverty 
of his parents, and all the sufferings poverty brings with it, than 
indulge his body for a time and have his soul lost forever. Many 
other young men or boys would have jumped at the tempting of- 
fers the emperor made 1 The emperor found himself begging a boy 
to accept his favors, a mere boy who had the heart to refuse all 
his gifts! The mighty Aurelian was not accustomed to be re- 
fused. When he found that he did not have enough of honors 
or money to bribe this boy, he changed his tactics. Since it was 
the object of the emperor to turn the boy back to paganism, he 
tried to frighten him with the severe punishment inflicted upon 
Christians for their faith. In those times it was considered a 
crime to be a Christian. No torture was too revolting if it added 
to the suffering of the martyrs. The emperor had the boy sent 
to the torture chamber. Not only was the boy a Christian ; by re- 
jecting the offers of the emperor, he was guilty of most outrageous 
insult. The emperor commanded that the boy be placed upon the 
rack, an instrument of torture by which every bone of the body 
was drawn out of joint. You know how painful it is to sprain an 
ankle or even a finger. Imagine then what a pain it must be to 
have every bone drawn out of joint; the shoulders, the elbows, the 
wrists, the fingers, hips, knees and ankles and feet out of joint at 
the same time. Thus with every bone of his body tortured the boy 
v/as asked again whether he still would remain a Christian. He an- 
swered: yes. He was then thrown into a prison, where he found 
no gentle hands to give his distorted body the least care. No 
food was given him ; not a drop of water. After four days he was 
again dragged before his judge. The same question and the same 
answer. He was willing to die rather than deny his holy faith. 
Then he was stretched out upon an iron frame and burning coals 



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were placed all over his body. Even then he gave the same answer. 
The judge was resolved to break his spirit and orderd that he be 
hung up by his feet. A smoldering fire was started beneath his 
head. When they asked him again, he answered by praying in loud 
voice. The judge then ordered boiling water to be poured down 
his sides. Even pagans who witnessed the scalded flesh severed 
from the body of the boy felt sorry for him. At the moment, how- 
ever, when the boiling water was poured over the boy, the cruel 
judge dropped dead. The emperor, hearing what had happened, 
ordered the boy beheaded. This is in short the story of the suf- 
fering and death of St. Agapitus. He died at the age of fourteen 
years. 

Does the life of this saint teach us any lesson? Let us see. 

Is your life saintly and blameless, as that of St. Agapitus, so 
that people will find cause to admire it? Have you ever caused 
anyone to be edified by your good example? Do you lead such a 
saintly life to make people declare you certainly are a Catholic 
boy for none other could be as pure and gentle? Do you not 
rather try to hide the fact of your being a Catholic for fear you 
might be asked about it, or that you might lose your position ? Do 
you not by vulgar talk and actions create the impression as though 
you were anything but a Catholic? Often boys are working side 
by side in factories, and neither suspects the other of being a 
Catholic, though both of them are. When God and Religion are 
mocked they stand there laughing with the rest. If the early Chris- 
tians had had no greater courage, Christianity would, to speak from 
the human standpoint, have been wiped from the face of the earth, 
and paganism would still rule the world. 

Imagine yourself in the place of this saintly boy, Agapitus. Had 
you been called to the palace of the emperor would you know the 



ST. AGAPITUS 



227 



catechism well enough to answer the questions of the emperor? 
Had you been given promises of money and honors, what would 
your choice have been? Too many people at the present time 
will readily sell their souls for money or honors. Men are told 
that if they remain Catholics they can never get ahead and make 
a mark in this world. Some prefer their holy faith to all the world 
may offer them: but, alas, many take what the world offers and 
give their souls in payment for it. Think of the suffering St. 
Agapitus underwent for our holy faith. Life was as dear to him 
as it is to you. He felt the pain as you do. He was no older than 
most of you. And yet, you are afraid to show your colors for 
fear that some may laugh at you for being a Catholic. You are 
afraid of losing a few pennies, and you hide your holy faith for 
fear of missing a chance of getting on in this world! And it is 
the very same faith for which martyrs, like St. Agapitus, gave up 
their lives! 

Yes, boys, let us admit it: We are often cowards, when it is a 
question of showing our holy faith. "He who will confess me 
before men, him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven," 
our dear Saviour told us. H we are ashamed of Christ, He in 
turn will feel ashamed of us. If we pretend not to know Him, not 
to belong to His Church, the time will come when He will ignore 
us and not know us. 

Remember St. Agapitus and his suffering the very next time 
there is occasion for confessing or defending your holy faith. 
Know your holy faith thoroughly, so that whenever you are asked 
regarding any point of it you may explain it clearly. Never give 
consent to anyone to speak disrespectfully of God or Religion. 
People may not at all times agree with you, but they will admire 
you, nevertheless, for not being afraid. Suppose you do lose your 



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position on account of it. Do you think that God will let you 
fight the battle alone? He will be at your side. You may lose in 
things temporal, but you will be the gainer in spiritual and eternal 
blessings. With temporal things we must part some day. Death 
parts us from all of them. But the rewards we gather for the life 
to come are ours for ever and ever. 

And last, but not least, let your conduct be the real proof of your 
faith. Lead a virtuous life, so that people are compelled to say tliat 
you cannot be anything but a model, saintly, Catholic boy. 



ST. GEORGE 



229 



XXXVIIL St. George 

My dear Boys: Nothing calls forth our admiration more than 
true manliness and courage. Other good traits may cause us to say 
words of praise here and there, but manliness most compels our ad- 
miration. True courage and manliness are all the more admirable 
when we find them linked to a steadfast Faith. 

Such an example of true manliness we find in St. George. 

His father died when the saint was a child. His saintly mother 
took him with her to the Holy Land. This was of itself a great 
grace for the boy, for the lessons he had learned about our dear 
Saviour were brought home to him all the more forcibly by visiting 
the sacred places where our dear Saviour was born, where He 
lived, suffered, and died for us. His mother being of a wealthy and 
influential family, George had all the benefits that pleasant sur- 
roundings, able teachers and social rank could bestow. Still his 
head was not turned. He was always obedient and a model of 
purity. His wealth did not prevent him from being pious, nor his 
social standing from kindness towards those less favored than he. 
It was remarked that as a young man he was not frivolous and 
pleasure loving, such as young men of means and leisure often are. 
As he advanced in years, his heart remained innocent and pure, like 
that of a child. When this saintly young man joined the Roman 
army, people thought that, in the army, where he was surrounded 
by all classes of men, he would lose that childlike innocence. They 
were mistaken. An officer in the army has a hard task to gain the 
good will of both, his superior officers and of those under him. An 
officer will often lose the one by trying to gain the other. St. 
George, however, knew how to gain the respect of those above him 



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by strict obedience and valor, while he was loved for his kindness 
and consideration by those beneath him in rank. 

Needless to say, this remarkable conduct of George did not escape 
the attention of the emperor, Diocletian. The bravery of the young 
warrior, his gentleness and strict attention to discipline were re- 
ported for recognition. The emperor was desirous of rewarding 
St. George in a fitting manner. In due time an order reached him 
from his imperial master informing him that he was made a general 
in recognition of his valuable services, and that he was to wage 
war against certain Christian people. That promotion was to be 
the beginning of still greater honors. If this campaign would be 
a successful one, he might in time hold the highest command of the 
army. Before his youthful mind all these possibilities must have 
arisen. Ambition, the joy of victory, the imperial rewards, — all 
beckoned to him. But how the world was disappointed ! St. George 
resigned his commission in the army, stating that, since he was a 
Christian himself, he could not wage war against his brethren. 
No one was more surprised and dismayed than the emperor himself. 
Immediately he forgot the heroism of the young warrior, had him 
courtmartialed, and beheaded for being a Christian. St. George 
gave his life for his holy Faith on April the 23rd, in the year 303. 
He died in the very flower of his youth. 

St. George basked in the favor of an emperor. A grand career 
was before him. History might have recorded him as the greatest 
general. But all this was as nothing in comparison to his good con- 
science. He knew well that, if he resigned his commission for the 
reason he gave, it meant death for him. Nevertheless, rather than 
do wrong he would die. 

This short sketch of St. George teaches us three lessons we 
might well take to heart. 



ST. GEORGE 



231 



The £rst lesson we should learn is not to depend upon the esteem 
of the world. The world makes its idols and crushes them. 

How willing the emperor Diocletian was to reward St. George. 
He had heard of the bravery of the young officer, hardly more 
than a boy, yet more brilliant and successful than many a seasoned 
warrior. The emperor was willing to give him an important com- 
mission ; ready to overwhelm him with greater honors and responsi- 
bilities, should he prove equal to the trust placed in his ability. The 
emperor considered him as a man upon whom he could depend, 
in whose care he could place the safety of the empire. But no 
sooner did he learn that St. George was a Christian than he forgot 
all this and his friendship turned into bitter hatred. 

Take the baseball nine of a big city. One of the pitchers wins 
nearly all the games of the season. You will find his picture in the 
paper every day. The papers will print all kinds of fine stories 
about him, and praise him to the sky. The next season opens and 
the fans want to see this same pitcher again winning every game. 
He loses some games. What do they say then? They have no 
word of praise for him. The papers will demand that this pitcher 
be discharged. In the meantime, another pitcher is successful, and 
he gets all the praise. He becomes popular. But how long will 
his popularity last? Till another is found to do even better. Then 
he, too, will be criticised and forgotten. 

Therefore, never depend upon the world to praise you, or to 
give you favors. As soon as the world finds that it can use you no 
longer, it will have enough of you. You may have served the 
world ever so faithfully, even to the detriment of your soul; but 
the moment another will serve it better than you, your past services^ 
will no longer be considered. You will be pushed aside and another 
idol will be set up in your place. 



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The second lesson follows from the first. It is wiser to serve 
God. What an amount of good we could do if we served God 
half as well as others serve the world. We must obey God rather 
than the world, but some boys seem to forget that they have a 
conscience and that it has been given to them to follow it. 

Let us suppose that your employer tells you : "I know to-morrow 
is Sunday, but I want you to be in the shop all day and to attend to 
any work that may come along." How many, or how few, of you 
would tell that man : "I am a Christian and I must go to church. I 
must obey God who tells me to keep that day holy." 

I know that there is some work that must be done. Still, I need 
hardly tell you that employers often demand work of Catholics that 
is not necessary. And the work is sometimes given them with no 
other object but to undermine their faith. You may know of some 
people who are idling all through the week, but on Sunday they 
work like slaves to catch up. Or, let us suppose you work in a 
factory. The young man at your elbow openly brags that he does 
not believe in a God. He tells you all kinds of stories to make you 
think less of your holy Faith. Have you the courage to tell him 
that his talk is disagreeable to you ? Are you able to tell him where 
he is wrong? 

Again, let us suppose that the people for whom you work are 
much opposed to religion. You fear that if they learn that you 
are a Catholic you will lose your place. Which would you rather 
lose, a few dollars or your soul ? There are Catholics who will not 
go to Mass on Sunday for fear that they might lose customers ! 
Too many people of the present time do not know what it means 
to make sacrifices for the sake of religion. They have invented 
so many "ifs" and "buts" that they feel fully justified in hiding 
their Faith beneath a bushel when there is question of worldly sue- 



ST. GEORGE 



233 



cess. Sacrifices, such as the martyrs made, are no longer fashion- 
able. 

It is true, at the present time Catholics are not on account of their 
faith exposed to capital punishment as in times gone by. But, since 
the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and since the world 
and Christ will never be at peace, because the teaching of Christ 
goes contrary to that of the world, you may easily understand that 
the world will see to it that Catholics will have to suffer in some 
way for a Faith that is so much hated and persecuted. A Catholic 
who lives up to his convictions will be looked upon as a citizen of 
the second or third rate, never as the very best. Certain offices 
and places of trust and honor will be denied him owing to his 
Faith. If a Catholic were to run for president a howl would go up 
from North to South and from East to West. Now and then so- 
cieties are organized, and flourish for a time, with the special object 
of keeping Catholics out of office. Another way in which Catholics 
are made to suffer for the sake of their Faith is their taxation for 
schools to which they cannot in conscience send their own children. 
Our holy Faith is worth any and every sacrifice we can give. Our 
very life is none too much to give up for it. To spread this holy 
Faith even our Redeemer had to suffer and die. Are we better 
than He, that we expect to be treated with more consideration ? To 
suffer for the cause that He has suffered for makes us all the more 
like to Him. 

The third lesson we derive from the life of St. George is this. 
The saint was willing rather to die himself than to inflict suffering 
upon his fellow Christians. How do we treat members of our holy 
Faith? By the wish and command of Christ we are to love our 
neighbor as ourselves. We must practise charity even towards 
those least deserving of it. We are not permitted to bar even our 



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worst enemy from the obligation that charity imposes upon us. 
True, it is impossible to have the same desire of kindly feeling to- 
wards all men. Without injuring the rights of any of them we 
may show more regard for some than for others. Being human, 
we are tied more closely to those of our own blood. But, apart 
from this greater duty towards those of our own kindred, we have 
reason to ask ourselves how do we treat the members of our great 
spiritual household? How do we act towards our fellow Cath- 
olics? What rivalry and envy exist among Catholic families! 
While they call God their Father and the Blessed Virgin their 
Mother, they act like enemies rather than like brethren. What ri- 
valry is sometimes found in parish societies? Those that are least 
fitted even for the lowest office are constantly aspiring for the 
highest. And if they cannot get it, they mischievously scheme until 
they ruin the society. Even a Sodality is not always free from 
such disturbers. 

As Catholics we should help one another. Are we doing this? 

You may know of a poor Catholic boy out of work. He is a good 
fellow, hard working, honest and willing. You may know of a 
place open for a boy. Do you think of putting in a word for your 
Catholic friend, or don't you rather say: "Let him look out for 
himself. I had to look out for myself, too." Take another case. 
A Catholic boy is accused of something of which you know that he 
is entirely innocent. Do you take his part? Do you stand by him, 
defending him, or do you let matters take their course, feeling that 
the trouble does not concern you? 

Manliness and courage are a great adornment for the boy, and 
Catholic boys and men have special reasons as well as many special 
opportunities to practise them. Let St. George be your example, 
and your reward will not fail, as it did not fail him. 



ST. STANISLAUS 



235 



XXXIX. St. Stanislaus 

My Dear Boys: — In the year 1564 two brothers entered the 
University of Vienna, in Austria. The name of the older boy was 
Paul Kostka, the younger one's name was Stanislaus. They were 
the sons of an illustrious Polish family, and their means and noble 
rank opened to them the fashionable and exclusive circles. In 
their ways, the two boys were as far apart as the North Pole is 
from the South Pole. Paul was worldly, Stanislaus, a saint. 

Paul made the best of the opportunities which money and in- 
fluential connections offered. Life to him meant nothing but tast- 
ing all the pleasures youth and means may procure. His stay at the 
university was merely a means of getting an amount of pleasure 
he was not able to enjoy at home. It is to be expected that a 
pleasure-loving youth like Paul Kostka could have little thought 
for anything so serious as the saving of his soul. If religion inter- 
fered with his pleasures, religion was bound to suffer. And so 
Paul drifted with the tide of the easy-going and pleasure-loving 
society. In name Paul was a Catholic. And that was about all 
that can be said of his religion. Needless to say, he was a most 
popular young man. He was the example of good fellowship, full 
of fun, witty, and brilliant. 

The younger brother was quiet, unassuming, and nicknamed 
"the saint" by the frivolous companions of Paul. While he was not 
liked by the friends of Paul, they could not help admiring and 
respecting him. No one dared to make an improper remark in his 
presence. He was bold enough to let the friends of his brother 
know that he did not approve of frivolity. He was as much a 
friend of piety and purity as Paul was a friend of loose morals. 



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I need hardly tell you that Paul left nothing untried to make Stanis- 
laus join his way of living. Not only Paul, but also his com- 
panions made it hard for him to walk the narrow and straight path. 
The saint was surrounded by wickedness. There was no one to give 
him a kind word of encouragement. When Paul found that the 
united efforts of himself and his companions were of no avail he 
went so far as to misrepresent his brother at home. He informed 
his parents that Stanislaus was a good-for-nothing, a hypocrite, an 
idle dreamer, too silly to take the world as it is. The saint bore 
all the ridicule he received from his own people and said nothing. 
What kept him up in these severe trials was his childlike devotion 
to the Blessed Virgin. He knew that, though his earthly mother 
might question his motives of piety, his heavenly mother would not 
only understand him, but be of more help and consolation to him 
than the best of earthly mothers could ever be. 

As a last effort, Paul took lodgings with a Protestant family, 
and his brother had to accompany him. This family was bitterly 
opposed to everything Catholic. Stanislaus had to suffer countless 
insults. His Faith, however, could not be shaken. During his 
stay at this place he became very sick. He begged his brother to 
call a priest, but his brother only laughed at him. When the saint 
saw not a single soul in the house ready to do him this favor, he 
had recourse to the Blessed Virgin to help him. His prayers were 
answered. Angels entered his room and brought him the holy Com- 
munion, which human beings refused him. After receiving holy 
Communion from the hands of the angels he had a vision of the 
Mother of God with the Infant Saviour. The Christchild left the 
arms of His Mother, and came to embrace him. It repaid him for 
all the trials and suffering he had to endure. It was in this vision 
that he was told to join the Society of Jesus. Long and earnestly 



ST. STANISLAUS 



237 



had he prayed to know his vocation! He realized that he was on 
earth not to seek pleasure but to do the holy Will of God. In 
this happy vision, God Himself told him what to do. While there 
had been doubt whether he would ever recover from his sickness, 
he got well immediately after the vision. It was not an easy 
matter for him to leave Vienna and join the Society of Jesus. 
But where there is a will there is a way. St. Stanislaus had no 
other means open to him but flight. He, therefore, resolved to 
walk the entire distance from Vienna to Rome. It takes a railroad 
train about a day and a night to make this trip, so you may imagine 
what a task it was for a sixteen-year-old boy to travel this distance 
on foot. He had to pass through parts unknown to him, with not 
a penny in his pockets, and depended upon charity for the bread 
he ate and the shelter he needed. It was a long and tiresome jour- 
ney, but finally he reached Rome. He had the great good fortune 
of receiving the religious habit from the hands of St. Francis 
Borgia. 

St. Stanislaus was by no means a strong boy. He was in delicate 
health. Nevertheless, he was severe with himself in doing pen- 
ance. The journey from Vienna to Rome was a great task for him, 
However, he had been accustomed to fasting three days each week, 
and so he knew no fear of hunger. Even while living with his 
brother in Vienna he had secretly scourged his tender body to 
keep passion and senses under perfect control. It was no wonder, 
then, that during the novitiate, instead of being a pupil in the practice 
of penance and mortification, he became the model for others. 
From the time he entered the order, he was a model and source of 
edification for all. He died young. In his eighteenth year he 
contracted a fever and succumbed. Such is briefly the life of St. 
Stanislaus. Some of you, in listening to this story, may have won- 



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dered that so much was said of the life of his brother, Paul. It 
was done with a purpose. The life of Paul adds, by its contrast, 
to the beauty of the life of his brother, the saint. 

The life of the older boy, Paul, shows that, no matter how good 
one's parents may be, no matter how well children may be instructed 
and trained, they must labor for their own salvation. No one else 
can save your soul for you. You may receive all kinds of advice, 
all kinds of help, but the real work is your own. I dare say there 
are many boys who imagine that, since they have attended a parish 
school, and have pious parents, they can do much as they like 
without danger of going very wrong. The life of Paul Kostka is a 
lesson to the contrary. 

Paul had the same bringing up as his saintly brother. He had 
the same pious and careful parents, the same training, the same op- 
portunities. He might have become a saint like him. But all the 
training, all the good example, did not avail Paul. He was com- 
pletely taken up with the things of this world. 

You may say the two boys had different dispositions. Paul was 
lively, full of fun, while the saint was of a quiet disposition. This 
argument is misleading. Disposition is not sinful, nor does it fol- 
low that a quiet disposition is necessarily an indication of saintliness. 
Neither is a cheerful disposition a sign of wickedness. Most saints, 
indeed, of whose lives we have knowledge, were cheerful and happy. 
The constant union with God can scarcely have any other effect 
upon character than cheerfulness and happiness. Disposition, then, 
has nothing to do with saintliness. 

When we read of the great deeds the saints have performed, we 
are inclined to think that they were made of different clay than w^e 
are. Nothing is more erroneous. The saints were human, and 
they had trials and temptations, as we have. Their inclination 



ST. STANISLAUS 



towards evil was as much of a hindrance to them as ours is to us, and 
they had feelings like we have. Fasting was not a pleasure for 
them. They felt the pangs of hunger as well as we do. The mor- 
tifications to which they subjected themselves hurt them as much 
as they would hurt us, if we were brave enough to inflict such suf- 
fering upon ourselves for the expiation of our sins. When laughed 
at and made fun of, when called hypocrites, and made to suffer 
untold insults, they were very conscious of the injury. When St. 
Stanislaus was laughed at for being pious, when he was called a 
hypocrite, when he fasted and performed other severe works of 
penance, it caused him physical and mental suffering. Indeed, if it 
had not he would have had little merit. The way to heaven is a 
painful and difficult way. We must be ready to suffer, both in our 
body and in our mind, if we want to ever get to heaven. Since 
heaven is a place of reward, we must earn and deserve heaven, or we 
will never reach it. 

Both St. Stanislaus and his brother, Paul, are dead for nearly 
four hundred years. Whether Paul ever got to heaven after 
his careless life on earth, we have no reason to know. Let us hope 
that, through the prayers of his saintly brother, he may have had 
the grace of repentance. However that may be, who to-day has a 
kind word for Paul ? Anyone who reads the life of the saint reads 
also how cruel Paul was to his saintly brother. Several hundred 
years have passed, and even now he may be asking himself what 
good his life on earth was to him? His pleasures, his dissipation 
are gone. He lived for the world. What did the world do for 
him? Nothing. Four hundred years gone, and, behold, the 
name of Stanislaus is revered and honored throughout the whole 
Catholic world. Countless societies, altars, and churches are erected 
in his honor. His is a glorious name. His life has been preached 



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to thousands and thousands of boys and young men, as an example 
worthy of imitation. And when we have passed away, the life of 
St. Stanislaus will be told to countless others. His name will live 
to the end of time. 

His life on earth comprised only eighteen years. How little and 
trifling his good works must seem in comparison to the reward he 
now enjoys for nearly four hundred years ! And these four hundred 
years are but the beginning of his never-ending reward. 

Now, then, which example will you follow, Paul's, or the example 
of Stanislaus? Let us say a prayer to St. Stanislaus that he may 
assist in obtaining the grace for us to follow in his footsteps, so 
that we may, after this short life, be permitted to be in his blessed 
company for ever and ever. 



ST. PANCRATIUS 



XJ2. St. Pancratius 

My dear Boys: St. Pancratius was a boy of twelve years when 
he was sentenced to death for his holy faith. He had been found 
guilty of being a Christian. In those pagan times it was considered 
one of the greatest crimes not to bow down to idols of wood and 
stone. To those pagans their many vices were no crimes at all. But 
to be a Christian was a crime so great that only death was fit punish- 
ment for it. Young as the saint was, he was dragged to court and 
tried and found guilty. He might have saved his life ; indeed, he 
was told to consider his tender years and all that life would hold 
in store for him. But the condition of safety was such that he 
could not accept it. To save his young life, he would have had to 
break the very first Commandment of God. He would have had 
to ofifer sacrifice to an idol of stone and pay to it the honor and 
homage that belongs to the true God only. There was the alter- 
native of breaking the Commandment of God or of dying. St. 
Pancratius preferred death to sin. 

Nearly every large city in those days had an open-air theatre. 
Imagine an oval-shaped field large enough for a baseball diamond. 
All around it rows of seats are built, so that thousands can see the 
performances. In this arena all kinds of contests, such as gladi- 
atorial fights, races and the like, took place. By some arrange- 
ment the arena could be flooded, permitting the performance of 
naval battles. Beneath the seats of the people there were the dens 
for prisoners and animals. During the first three hundred years 



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after Christ one of the most popular forms of pastime consisted 
in witnessing the public executions of Christians. At times as many 
as a hundred and more Christians were led out into the middle of 
the arena to be devoured by wild beasts. When we bear in mind 
that these executions were sometimes of daily occurrence, we can 
comprehend to some extent how manymartyrs gave their lives for 
their faith. The Christians, half starved in their miserable prisons, 
and scarcely half clad, huddled together in the arena to await their 
death. They could hear the roaring of the wild beasts, and the 
boisterous jeering of the crowds that had come to see them suffer. 
Mothers would hold their infants close to their bosoms; little chil- 
dren, not realizing what was to happen, would cry and cling to their 
parents, the men and women would encourage one another for that 
last and hard struggle, and would pray aloud. Upon a signal 
the gatekeeper would draw the iron doors to free the wild animals 
that had been starved so as to make them more ferocious at sight 
of their human prey. Lions, tigers, leopards would rush from 
their cages and the final cries of agony would be drowned in the 
heartless cheering of an audience more cruel and bloodthirsty than 
even the beasts of the jungle. 

In their frenzy and hatred against the Church those pagans knew 
no mercy. They spared neither age nor sex. 

Among these victims we behold a boy of twelve — St. Pancratius. 
A leopard is crawling toward him noiselessly like a cat, its eyes 
burning with a cruel fire. The boy saw it come, but he stood erect, 
his arms expanded, so that he looked like a living cross. In another 
instant the leopard buried its teeth in the throat of the young 
martyr. 

Such was the death of St. Pancratius. 

The pagan world, in gloating over the death of Christians, never 



S7. PANCRATIUS 



243 



stopped to think of the meaning of these deaths. Each death meant 
that another soul was lost to their cause. Paganism had neither 
charm nor terror to induce the Christian to leave his God and turn 
to their many idols. The death of a boy, like St. Pancratius, meant 
that even this boy could not be induced to leave the Church of the 
true God and accept what paganism could give in her place. What 
did paganism ofifer? It offered honors, money, safety of life. For 
how long could it promise to give them? Ah, there is the differ- 
ence. The time during which a pagan might enjoy the things of 
this world was very uncertain. And, then, death. And though 
the world may make great strides in all sciences and arts, it is 
unable to defeat death. You see, then, that paganism offered 
something it really did not have in its power to bestow. In course 
of time, our dear Saviour came down upon this world and made 
us a better offer. He offered us a life that shall never end. 
Thoughtful people who heard the message did not need much time 
to decide whether they wanted such benefit for a short and un- 
certain time, or forever. They preferred the happiness of another 
world that shall never end, to a passing semblance of happiness 
that must end with death. All the countless, blessed martyrs of 
holy Church proved by their death that they preferred eternal life 
at any cost to a doubtful earthly happiness, that can last for a few 
years at the most. 

We, too, have made this choice. 

After our first holy Communion, when we renewed our bap- 
tismal vows, we solemnly swore to renounce the devil, all his pomps, 
and all his works. It was then that we resolved to choose the 
eternal life in preference to the doubtful and uncertain glamor of 
this world. 

But it is not enough to simply say: "Yes. I want to go to 



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heaven." Therefore our dear Saviour says, "Not he who says 
Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does 
the will of My Father." We must live in conformance with the 
will of God. If heaven were not a reward, there would be no 
necessity of faith, no need to comply with the duties it imposes. 

Since you, boys of the Sodality, have made your choice to be on 
the side of God, remember that you stand shoulder to shoulder 
with the angels and the saints. The fight will be bitter, but we 
are sure beforehand that the side of God cannot lose. The reward, 
too, is worth every effort and every sacrifice we can make. 

You are so often told about making sacrifices. What do we mean 
by sacrifices? 

Owing to our inclination towards evil, and the dictates of a sin- 
ful world entirely governed by it, we are prone to sin. It is as 
easy for us to sin as for a stone to fall downward. Of our own 
efforts we can never curb or conquer this evil inclination. We 
need the grace of God, that is obtained by us in receiving the holy 
Sacraments and in saying our prayers. By cooperating with these 
graces we wage warfare against our flesh. We strive to live our 
lives not according to the dictates of our flesh, but in compliance 
with the holy will of God. We deny ourselves the gratification of 
our desires, and these acts of self-denial are sacrifices. We may, 
for instance, be laughed at for being Catholics, and our feeling of 
pride and self-respect is ruffled. We may desire to avoid this ridi- 
cule, yet faith tells us we must be ready to suffer anything for the 
sake of God. And, with the help of His grace, we conquer our 
inclination and feel happy in the thought of being considered worthy 
to suffer together with Christ and His martyrs. It may be a ques- 
tion of losing work on account of our holy faith, and our evil in- 
clination may tell us that we have to live, that everybody has a 



ST. PANCRATWS 



MS 



right to get along in this world and to earn money. But faith asks 
us what will it profit us if we win the whole world and in the end 
lose our soul. With the help of the grace of God we will be able 
to bear the loss, if God so wills it, feeling sure that we will gain 
more than the loss has been worth. The world holds out many- 
pleasures. Your passions will whisper in your ear that you live 
but once. You are young only a short time, and if you don't enjoy 
the pleasures of the world right here and now, you will never get 
a chance. But faith tells you that just because you live but once, 
and have only one soul, you must save it by all means now and at 
the present time. The present time is all you have in which you 
can save your soul. The future is not within our disposal. With 
the grace of God you will be able to make sacrifices of all the 
pleasures the world might tempt you with, and forsake them for 
the Cross of Christ. 

Remember the great sacrifice St. Pancratius made. He gave 
his life for his holy faith, which by the grace of God is also your 
faith. He died a cruel death. Do you think that he could have 
made this great sacrifice without making many smaller sacrifices 
before? God and His angels only know the number of the other 
sacrifices he rendered. Each sacrifice made him more capable to 
make a greater one, and so on, until he w^as called upon to render 
the greatest sacrifice in his power of giving — his life. 

The time may come v/hen God may demand a great sacrifice 
from you. How will you be able to offer it unless you accustom 
yourself right now to make smaller sacrifices readily and cheer- 
fully? If it is too hard for you to deny yourself some little lawful 
pleasures, will it be easy for you to deny yourself some greater, 
unlawful pleasure? You will never be able to come up to the ex- 
pectations of God and His Angels unless you perform the little 



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voluntary or necessary sacrifices for which occasion offers itself at 
the present time. There are countless opportunities every day. 
And w^hen, at times, a certain sacrifice seems harder than usual, 
think of St. Pancratius giving his life. Pray to him that he may 
intercede for you to make your sacrifices perfect and of merit 
for the eternal life. 



BLESSED HERMANN JOSEPH 



247 



XLI. Blessed Hermann Joseph 

My dear Boys: — About the year 11 50 a child was born to certain 
poor parents. They gave to the little boy the name of Hermann. 
When he subsequently entered the monastery, he was given the 
name of Joseph. The parents of the boy had at one time been very 
rich ; but, owing to some misfortune, they were compelled to begin 
at the bottom of the ladder a second time. Their change of fortune, 
however, had no evil effects upon their faith. 

How often do we not see people turning away from God after 
their fortune has turned either for the better or worse? People 
who were leading a pious and God-fearing life when poor, will 
forget all about God as soon as they become rich. Then they have 
no longer time to go to church or to say their prayers. Money 
makes them so conceited that they imagine they alone have earned 
what they have. They have no idea of thanking God that He 
blessed their efforts, that He gave them health and strength of 
body, without which they would have never been able to work. 
Money makes people worldly. They firmly believe that making 
money is the only real business and work they have. To get more 
money they will not even stop at dishonesty. They will be cruel, 
and know neither mercy nor charity, when it is a question of earn- 
ing money. Some people you see gradually losing their grip on 
fortune. Money seems to glide through their fingers and in a few 
years they are as poor as the poorest. They may have enjoyed some 
pleasures and honors that only wealth can afford, and with the loss 
of money they forfeit all influence. These people, too, will forget 
God. Misfortune makes them lose all Faith and Hope in God. 



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They blame Him for the loss of their fortune, get sore at the whole 
world and distrust even their best friends, whereas if they would 
be sincere and candid, they might find many reasons to convince 
themselves that their waste and recklessness was the real cause of 
their ruin. But, being discouraged, disgusted with God and all 
mankind, they are possessed by a spirit of false pride and they, too, 
forget to pray. They imagine that, since God permitted them to 
suffer, they need no longer pray to Him. 

The parents of Blessed Hermann Joseph were not of this kind. 
When they had fallen from the position of wealth to poverty, they 
looked upon it as a trial sent by Almighty God for their sanctifica- 
tion. With Job, they said: "The Lord hath given, the Lord hath 
taken ; blessed be His holy name." 

As a good tree brings forth good fruit, it was natural for these 
good parents to bring forth good children. All their children were 
known for their piety. God permitted, however, that one of them, 
Hermann Joseph, should receive an extra share of holiness. This 
little boy had the faith that can move mountains. 

Blessed Hermann Joseph was of such angelic purity of heart and 
mind, and withal so simple and plain, that, what others considered 
great miracles, he looked upon as a matter of course. 

From childhood on, as soon as he was able to walk, he felt him- 
self drawn to one of the churches of his native city of Cologne. 
And there he would pray for hours at the time. He always selected 
a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the object of his attention. 
In her arms she held the Infant Saviour. At such visits the Infant 
Saviour was seen to leave the arms of His Divine Mother and play 
with the little saint. Very often, when his parents would be sorely 
distressed, he would come home with bread under his arms. When 
he was asked who gave him that bread he would say a beautiful 



BLESSED HERMANN JOSEPH 



249 



lady gave it to him. His brothers and sisters were anxious to 
know who that beautiful and generous lady could be. They followed 
him to church though he was not aware of their presence. He 
prayed and chatted as usual with the Most Blessed Mother and the 
Child, and on leaving he was given his usual loaf of bread. From 
that time on his parents and brothers and sisters treated him with a 
feeling akin to awe. One day he was given an apple. The other 
children ate their apple as soon as they got it. The blessed Hermann 
Joseph did not eat his, but took it to church. He knelt down before 
the statue to which he was accustomed to go, and offered the apple 
to the Infant Saviour. The Infant again left the arms of His Divine 
Mother to take the apple. 

For that reason, whenever Christian art portrays this saint, he is 
shown as a child kneeling before a statue of the Blessed Virgin and 
holding an apple in his hands, while the Infant in her arms is seen 
reaching out His tiny hands to receive it. 

At another time, it was during winter, the saintly boy came to 
church barefooted. When Our Blessed Lady saw him shivering 
with cold, another miracle took place. To show how much she ap- 
preciated his visits she gave him enough money to buy a pair of 
shoes. 

By the way. Do you know of any boys that stay away from 
church on Sundays because they say they have no fitting suit to 
wear? The excuse is very often a very poor one. You will find 
the same boys at other places where they ought not to be. We do 
not come to church to advertise the clothing stores : we come to 
pray. If God were to form His opinion of us by the clothes we 
wear, it would be a hard blow for the poor. Luckily for us, He 
does not follow the style of the world, and He judges us not by the 
clothes but by the heart within. The Blessed Virgin will not work 



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the miracles for every one that she has wrought for blessed Her- 
mann Joseph. So you might take it upon yourselves to act in her 
stead. You may have clothing you can no longer vjed.r. Be assured 
that if you take it upon yourself to act as the almsgiver of the 
Blessed Virgin, she v^ill never forget that she owes you a debt of 
gratitude, and will more than repay it with countless favors and 
graces that she will procure for you from her Divine Son. 

When this saintly boy was twelve years old, he entered the mon- 
astery of the Premonstratensians of St. Norbert and, after he had 
finished his course of studies was ordained a priest. With his 
added years his piety and simplicity of heart grew in proportion. 
He was favored with numerous other visions, the Blessed Virgin 
called him her chaplain, he wrote some spiritual works, gave mis- 
sions at various places, and died at the ripe age of ninety. 

Though he lived to an old age seldom given to men, he is best 
remembered as a saint of and for boys. His humble simplicity, his 
unfeigned piety, his childlike purity of heart, and his filial devotion 
to the Most Blessed Mother of God, were those of a child through- 
out his entire life. 

What lesson should his life teach us ? 

The world takes it for granted that simplicity of heart must be 
put aside with knee-pants. The world considers it as a matter of 
course that the young man must taste of the forbidden fruit and 
grow worldly-wise. There is, however, no reason for this presump- 
tion. With the added years we should not drift away from God, 
but always approach Him nearer and nearer in our efforts of becom- 
ing more like to Him. To grow in justice and holiness is, after all, 
our most important duty. 

How often must we not hear that going to church, saying the 
daily prayers and receiving the Sacraments, is good enough for 



BLESSED HERMANN JOSEPH 



251 



children, but that young men, — ^meaning thereby even boys of 
sixteen years, — are above that ! When these people are asked about 
priests and monks and sisters praying and going to church, they 
will answer that it is the business of the clergy and of the religious 
to pray, — that is all they have to do ! If that were all they have to 
do, I fear that convents and monasteries would soon be over- 
crowded and that there would be so many priests that not a tenth 
part of them could get parishes. God never intended that only one 
or two classes of people should pray. If He had. He would cer- 
tainly have told us so. But when you listen to the instructions of 
Christ, you will find that the duty of prayer is binding upon all 
until death. "Oh, well," you will hear some say, "I did not mean 
that priests only should pray. I know many old folks that have 
nothing else to do, and they pray from morning to night. They have 
the time." According to this worldly reasoning, we should be pious 
in childhood, then, when we become able to work for a living, we may 
safely give up praying, and work, and work, and work. During that 
time men need care very little for the commandments of God, may 
break them as often as they please — provided there is no danger of 
being found out and locked up for so doing. There need be no 
worry about the hereafter till people get old. When they have out- 
lived their usefulness, then they may again begin to pray, for there 
is nothing else for them to do ! 

If such reasoning were correct, it would mean that God must be 
satisfied to have you think of Him only when there is nothing better 
to do. 

Suppose you were to make your father a present of a watch. 
You buy the watch and then tell your father : "Here, father, I desire 
to give you a watch, but you will have to let me use it till I am 
ready to give it to you." You keep the watch for years and years, 



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assuring your father from time to time that he is going to get his 
watch. Then one day, after you have used it for a long time, some- 
thing in it breaks. You take the watch to a watchmaker, he looks 
at it and tells you that you might buy a new watch for what it would 
cost to repair the old one. All the wheels are worn out, the spring 
is broken and the case looks like brass. So you take the watch back 
and then make a present of it to your father! Do you think that 
he will be pleased with that worthless thing? Suppose your father 
had even given you the money to buy the watch with. Would it not 
be an act of impudence on your part to make your father such a gift? 
Would not your father have reason to feel insulted ? 

Now it is the very same thing when we spend an entire life in 
sin, and, at the very end offer to God a decrepit body. Can we 
expect to get a great reward for anything like that ? Could we blame 
God if He refused such a shabby gift? If He does take it at all it 
will, no doubt, condition a sever penance for all the wasted years : a 
penance, for which we may have to atone in purgatory, suffering 
there for every wasted minute and every grace that we have rejected 
in the time that is lost forever. 

Never take the advice of the world when it is a question of doing 
something for God. Naturally God knows far better than the world 
what He wants of us. God wants of us not only our first tender 
years but all that follow, — up to our last breath. He wants us en- 
tirely for Himself. Whatever we have and are, all comes from 
Him, the Author of all good. The world can neither give nor take 
anything. 

Consider how foolish and sinful it would be to waste the best 
years of our lives; the years when we can do the most good, per- 
form the greatest sacrifices and earn the grandest rewards. How 



BLESSED HERMANN JOSEPH 



253 



dare we forfeit the most precious part of our lives to give God the 
leavings ? 

Now, my dear boys, let us pray to blessed Hermann Joseph that 
we may obtain childlike humility and simplicity like his, and keep 
them for the remainder of our lives. 



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XLII. St. John Berchmans 

My dear Boys : — The life of St. John Berchmans is a singular 
life, indeed. While it is not known that he performed a single, ex- 
traordinary work, every one of his acquaintances knew that he per- 
formed his every-day duties extraordinarily well. The constant 
thought uppermost in his mind was one we might profitably adopt 
for ourselves. This thought was : "I shall never be a saint unless 
I am a saint when I am a boy." 

He was born at Diest, in Belgium, on March 13, 1599. He was 
blessed with saintly parents. Being gentle and thoughtful, bright 
and cheerful, he was a favorite with his playmates. Still, his parents 
discovered that he was not entirely without faults. He was quick- 
tempered and inclined to be easily led. His conscientious parents 
never permitted these faults to get a good start in their boy. They 
checked these faults as soon as they began to show. 

His parish priest, a Father Emmerick, took a fancy to the boy 
because at the age of seven years of age he had mastered the Mass 
prayers, and took it upon himself to serve holy Mass. When the 
boy was nine years old the good priest took him, and a few other 
boys, of whom he thought that they might possibly have a vocation 
for the priesthood, into his own house. There the little company 
led a regular convent life, the good old priest preparing them for 
their college course. He laid down severe rules for them, dividing 
their time into hours of study, work, prayer, and rest. 

Invariably the little saint asked for the hardest work, the kind 
the other boys might consider beneath their dignity. He did that 
work most willingly. He was the first to rise in the morning. He 
did not feel satisfied if he could not serve Mass each day. His 



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pious behavior at the altar was a source of edification even for the 
priest. Whenever he obtained permission to go to the neighboring 
church, at Montaigu, he recited the rosary going and returning. At 
play he was full of harmless fun; when studying no one could be 
more interested than he ; in prayer he was a model for all. What- 
ever he did, whether work or play, he put his whole heart and soul 
into it. 

After he had completed his preparatory training with Father 
Emmerick, we find him next in the Jesuit College at Mechlin. The 
training he had received at home and with the good, old priest, was 
a great advantage to him at the college. He quickly gained the good 
will of his fellow students and of his teachers. This, as you may 
know, is no small matter. You may be liked by those with whom 
you work, while your foreman may have little use for you. Or, if 
your foreman has taken a liking to you, your fellow workers maj 
dislike you. All this may happen without your fault. 

St. John Berchmans was liked principally because he always knew 
his place, and kept it. He was never bold. I dare say that few, if 
any, of his fellow students suspected his fervent piety, for the saint 
disliked to make much of himself. To give you an idea of his piety, 
let me tell you that the saint at Mechlin made the Way of the Cross 
every Friday night in his bare feet. He selected Friday in honor 
of the suffering and death of our dear Saviour. To understand what 
this meant, I must add that these stations were shrines built some 
distance apart from each other. To escape notice he selected the time 
of night for his devotion. In stormy and cold weather it was a hard 
task to walk all that way barefooted. Besides his daily prayers, he 
recited every day the office of the Blessed Virgin. Considering such 
acts of piety, it was not to be wondered at that God gave him a 
vocation to the religious life. After he completed his college course 



256 CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 

he asked to be received as a member of the Society of Jesus, and 
received the habit of this order at the Mechhn novitiate. After his 
novitiate he was directed to Antwerp to continue his studies, and 
from there was sent to Rome. With his bundle over his shoulders 
he set out afoot from Antwerp to Rome, and reached the Eternal 
City the last day of 1618. In 1621 he was seized with a violent 
fever, and died. 

It was only after his death that people found that he had been a 
saint. No doubt, if God had permitted him to live to a ripe old age, 
this saint might have accomplished a great deal of good. But in 
His Wisdom God saw fit to recall the young saint when he was 
twenty-two years old. Yet in that brief life he did more good than 
most others would do during three and four times as many years. 

In our times we find that many people have an entirely wrong 
idea about holiness. They imagine that to be holy one must per- 
form many miracles, like a St. Anthony or a St. Francis Solanus. 
But we must remember that holiness of life does not consist in 
miracles, but in carrying out the holy Will of God in a faultless and 
perfect manner. As a special favor God grants to some saints the 
power of miracles, not to add lustre to their names, but to induce 
the world to follow the way of God. The holy Apostles wrought 
great miracles, not for their own sakes or glory, but for the sake of 
making converts,, that their faith might take deep roots, and that the 
faith might be accepted even by doubting pagans. Yet the Gospels 
do not record a single miracle of St. John the Baptist, although our 
Saviour Himself said that not a greater saint was bom of woman 
than he. The sacred text is in this respect silent even about the 
Blessed Virgin Mary. For, though she is now more powerful than 
any angel or saint, or all of them combined, not a single miracle is 
placed to her credit while she was alive. 



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Hence we need not feel surprised that St. John Berchmans led 
so simple a life. He is a great saint, nevertheless, even though dur- 
ing his life he did not perform a single miracle. And yet v^e might 
well say that his whole life was a constant miracle. In everything 
he did he had but one object in view — to please God in a perfect 
way. Whenever he saw an opportunity of pleasing God better by 
a more perfect work, he would substitute for the less perfect work 
that which was more pleasing to God. There was no one in the 
community who pleased God so perfectly as St. John Berchmans. 
It was his profound humility that enabled him to make all his actions 
so inconspicuous that during his lifetime his fellow students and 
brothers of the Order did not discover his wonderful perfection. 

An army can have but one supreme leader. The greater the 
number of dutiful soldiers following a good leader, the better they 
are equipped, the more chances will that army have of being vic- 
torious. The greatest general will be easily beaten if he has an army 
of indifferent or poorly trained soldiers. We can not all be great 
leaders of men. God calls some men to places of prominence to per- 
form grand works, some men to be missionaries, to others He gives 
vast mental powers, but the vast majority of men are to be privates 
in the vast army of God. The priests of the entire world make a 
vast number. Yet only a few of this number are selected to become 
bishops, and only one of all this number is elected to be the head 
of the Church in Rome. 

What lesson does the life of St. John Berchmans teach us? 

My dear boys, it teaches us a very consoling lesson. His life 
teaches us that even in the lowest rank of life we may become great 
saints, even though we do nothing else but perform our duty per- 
fectly. 

It may not be possible for you to become great apostolic mis- 



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sionaries, or founders of new orders in the Church; you may not 
be destined to become illustrious martyrs ; God may not have made 
you great intellectual lights like a St. Thomas or St. Augustine, and 
yet you may become saints. You may never leave your work-bench, 
never rise any higher in the world than your fathers did before you ; 
all that will not prevent you from becoming saints. All that is 
necessary is to do the work of our vocation for the love of God in 
a faultless manner, and we are saints. What matters it whether the 
world is aware of it? It is enough that God knows the value of 
our works. And yet we find boys, as well as grown people, who 
grieve because their unreasonable ambition of being somebody in 
this world is not realized. They have set their whole heart and mind 
upon becoming great. They desire to see their names in the papers ; 
they want to be talked about, to be considered and praised. And, 
if they fail in this effort, they give up in despair, and even neglect 
their every-day duties. They resemble the man to whom God gave 
one talent. He imagined that he should get as many talents as the 
most deserving had received. Because he was given only one talent, 
he refused to make proper use of it, and when God asked for an ac- 
counting, he came up and threw his one talent down in disgust. Do 
not make the mistake of that unhappy man. Never think that be- 
cause God has not raised you to some place of prominence, your life 
is not worth the trouble. In the sight of God your life is as im- 
portant as the life of the greatest man on earth. He has a soul to 
save, so have you. Indeed, it is easier for us little people to become 
saints than the ones that are up in the world. It should be far easier 
for us to perform little duties well than for the others to measure 
up to their heavy duties and responsibilities. 

When you work, work faithfully. Try to do your work as well 
as you can, not forgetting to offer up all you do to God. When it 



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is time to play, go and play, taking care that God is not offended in 
any way. When it is time to pray, pray earnestly and fervently. 
Finally, to tell you the last but not the least requisite for holiness, 
keep away from the wickedness of the world. Had St. John Berch- 
mans been told that he would be ultimately placed side by side with 
two other great saints, St. Aloysius and St. Stanislaus, as a perfect 
model for boys and young men, he would very likely have considered 
the prediction as a very poor joke at his own expense. His pro- 
found humility never permitted him to entertain a single thought 
of self-praise, even though ever so well deserved. 

Let us ask St. John Berchmans that, through his prayers, we may 
learn to appreciate the value of all our duties, no matter how lowly 
our station in life, so that by complying with them as faithfully as 
he, we, too, may after our death be numbered with the saints. 



26o 



ST. HERMENEGILD 



XLIII. St. Hermenegild 

My Dear Boys: — More than a thousand years ago the fair land 
of Spain was peopled by Visigoths. While the Ostrogoths had con- 
quered the eastern part of Europe, the Visigoths had extended their 
rule over the other part. The Goths were of Germanic origin. 
Their continual warfare had made them as bold as lions, but also as 
cruel and relentless as tigers. The Gothic people had embraced 
Arianism, a sect that denied the Divinity of Christ. Like all other 
sects, be fere and after, Arianism proceeded to persecute all that 
would not bow down before it. Fire and sword were its chief 
arguments. The Gothic people being barbaric and brutal, you will 
easily understand that when they sided with the Arians, Catholics 
could expect little mercy from them. For an apostate Catholic is 
always a worse enemy of the Church than one who never belonged 
to her. 

The father of St. Hermenegild was king Leovigild, a stem and 
hard-hearted man. The saint being the older of his two sons, the 
king arranged that he should be brought up a strict Arian, because 
as the coming king of the Visigoths, he was to preserve the kingdom 
for that sect. But God in His own most wonderful way disposed 
otherwise. The people of the kingdom were no longer to be misled, 
but to be returned to the Mother Church they had forsaken. To 
show you how wonderfully Divine Providence works out its aim, 
consider that here was the son of a king, brought up in a false reli- 
gion. Nevertheless the youth was well meaning. By chance, as world- 
ly people would say, he met St. Leander, bishop of Seville. From the 
time of their first meeting this youth and the saintly old bishop be- 



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261 



came good friends. The prince could not help being influenced by the 
holiness of the aged bishop, and he was induced to pray as he never 
prayed before. And when the prince realized that Arianism was 
not the true religion, he was anxious to learn the truth. So it 
happened that the saintly bishop had the happiness of baptizing 
one that was to be a saint like himself. 

The suffering of St. Hermenegild begins with the time when he 
was received into the Church by St. Leander. Both Leovigild and 
the stepmother never permitted Hermenegild to have many happy 
days. Both were very severe. After his conversion he found his 
home anything but agreeable. To avoid the continual taunting and 
numberless insults he had to flee from home. Then men who im- 
posed themselves upon him as friends betrayed him to his father, 
and he was brought back to the palace — in chains. The king was 
so enraged that he had his son put in prison. Castles in those days 
had a subterranean vault where prisoners were kept. Into such a 
prison St. Hermenegild was thrown. Heavy chains hung from the 
walls and were attached to his hands and feet. 

It would have been an easy matter for the saint to obtain his 
liberty. All he had to do was to renounce the Catholic faith and 
declare that he wished to be an Arian. But neither starvation nor 
the darkness and filth of the prison, neither the rage of his royal 
father, nor the chains that bruised his tender flesh, were able to 
cause him to falter in the faith. 

Imagine the son of a king brought up in a luxurious palace. 
Wherever he appeared he received royal honors, servants waiting 
to do his bidding day and night, he had the best of the land, and was 
accustomed to see the bright side of life. Of a sudden his life with 
all its pomp and ease is changed to a life of disgrace. Instead of 
getting the finest of food he is starved ; instead of going about and 



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receiving the homage of a faithful people he is placed in chains; 
instead of the comfortable rooms of the palace he must dwell in 
a hideous prison where fresh air or sunshine never entered. If 
you realize what all this must mean, you can form an idea of what 
St. Hermenegild suffered during the time he was in prison. 

St. Gregory the Great, in describing the suffering of this saint, 
relates that king Leovigild at one time sent an Arian bishop to the 
prison of St. Hermenegild. It was the day before Easter. The 
king was waiting for one word and he would have welcomed his 
son back and would have given him the crown. But that one word, 
the denial of the true faith, was never spoken. The king in despair 
ordered that his son should be beheaded that very night. Thus 
St. Hermenegild died for his holy faith, during the night before 
Easter in the year 585. 

Leovigild died shortly after his son. In his heart he could not 
help but admire his son for the steadfastness of character. While 
he did not return to the true faith, for fear of displeasing his 
people, he did manage to place his other son in the care of St. 
Leander. It was human respect that prevented the king from 
embracing the truth. Practically his entire kingdom was Arian. 
He feared his people, doubting whether he would keep the crown 
for himself and his son if he would join the true Church. Did the 
thought ever occur to him that God could have given him a grander 
crown than the one that was within the giving of his nation? 
Worldly people know but one fear: the fear of offending people. 
To offend God means nothing to them. 

How idle the king's fears were we see in the conversion of 
Recared, the brother of St. Hermenegild, who was a mere boy 
when he was received in the Church. The fear of the old king did 
not materialize. The people, instead of becoming vexed or even 



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263 



rebellious, showed by their actions that they were perfectly satis- 
fied. Recared became popular and was idolized by his people. 
Indeed, after a few years the majority of the Visigoths came back 
to the true fold. 

The one strong characteristic that stands out boldly in the life 
of St. Hermenegild is his conscientiousness in placing the obedience 
to God above all other considerations. His father was well aware 
that the Arian sect was not the true Church. He was a man ad- 
vanced in years, he knew the world, and showed a ripened judg- 
ment regarding worldly matters of importance. Yet he was a slave 
of human respect. Leovigild feared the loss of his kingdom. Then, 
too, there was his pride. For many years he had persecuted mem- 
bers of the Church, and to admit that he had been wrong was more 
than his pride would permit. King Leovigild may have been brave 
and daring in war, morally he was a coward. He would stoop to do 
wrong in order to please the people. 

On the other hand, St. Hermenegild knew how implacable his 
father was, for he had seen with his own eyes how his father had 
persecuted the Church. St. Hermenegild knew also that his father 
was likely not only to disown him, but even to imprison and kill 
him. Knowing the violent character of the Goths, the saint had all 
reason to fear it. Yet he worried little about his inheritance 
and even less about his safety. For him it was a question of re- 
ceiving a better crown, a better life. To gain the kingdom of 
heaven the saint was willing to sacrifice everything worldly. The 
severity of his father and the ill will of a nation were as nothing 
to him in comparison with the call of duty. 

With this lofty example of St. Hermenegild in mind, let us con- 
sider how easily we are swayed by human respect and fear. 

We know what God requires us to do ; we are also conscious of 



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the way of the world. We know that if we are punctual and faith- 
ful in our religious duties the world will call us pietists or bigots ; 
if we are honest and upright we may be regarded even as hypo- 
crites, and no doubt that hurts. The result is that human respect 
often makes cowards of us. We may learn to fear the world more 
than God. We hear of a business man who says he does not go to 
church on Sunday for fear to lose trade if people were to learn that 
he is a Catholic. Some people will fail to observe days of fast or 
abstinence when they are among those of other creeds, and many 
would rather be looked upon as up to date, or even ahead of the 
times, than as faithful to the laws of God. They are far more 
eager to gain that worthless reward the world may give, and think 
little or nothing of the eternal reward God has in His power of 
giving. If we feared God half as much as we fear the world, we 
should all be saints. 

After all, the world can neither punish nor reward to any great 
extent. Too often the world turns down the very men that served 
it most faithfully. The world likes to change its idols. The man 
whom the world worships to-day as the greatest ever, it will ridicule 
and abuse to-morrow. Human respect and human fear is one of 
the most compelling weapons of the devil — it is the trap into which 
we go most readily. 

We have all reason, then, to pray to St. Hermenegild that 
through his intercession we may gain some of his strength of 
character. May he intercede for us, so that in the future we may 
be free from human respect, and that, like him, we may be ready 
and willing to die rather than to offend God grievously. 

We have not been made by the world, or for the world, or of the 
world. We are the handwork of God. We cannot expect much 
good from the world, nor have we much reason to fear it. There 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 265 

is only One whom we have reason to fear, from whom we may 
expect great good, and that One is our Creator, God. Hence the 
Holy Ghost says: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis- 
dom." 



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XLIV. The Young Tobias 

My dear Boys : — The story of young Tobias is known to you all, 
yet you may have failed to take to heart the lesson which it is in- 
tended to convey. 

The father of young Tobias was taken into captivity together 
with thousands of Jews. At home, the Jews could observe the laws 
of their religion. When, however, they were made captives and 
compelled to live in pagan Niniveh, the observance of the law of 
Moses was often found very difficult. The father of Tobias was 
one of the few faithful to the law. Whereas other Jews considered 
the law of Moses burdensome, and found many excuses for not 
following it faithfully, he observed the law most conscientiously, 
even at the risk of his life. Had all the Jews been as faithful 
as he, God would very likely have averted the trials of such a 
captivity. But because most of them had forsaken the way of 
God, and accepted the ways of the pagan world, they had to be 
brought to their senses by means of sorrow and suffering. And 
then, as now, the just had to suffer along with the wicked. But 
the just have this consolation that their suffering brings them still 
closer to heaven. It will not only diminish or cancel the temporal 
punishment they have merited for other shortcomings, but be a 
further source of rewards in the world to come. 

For that reason we find the elder Tobias reconciled to his fate. 
He had seen his home go up in flames, he had to leave the land of 
his fathers, had lost most of his fortune, had to live in a country 



THE YOUNG TOBIAS 



267 



hostile to his people and to his God, yet not a single word of dis- 
content passed his lips. 

The Assyrian king, Salmanassar, recognizing the sterling quali- 
ties of the elder Tobias had granted him more freedom, a number 
of privileges and some minor office, such as were never granted to 
other Jews. While the other Jews were kept like prisoners under 
guard, he could within the realm go from place to place, work 
wherever he liked, stay wherever he liked. God rewarded his efforts 
with success. His ever increasing wealth, the favor of the king, 
and his saintly life made Tobias prominent among the captives. 
Whatever favor and privileges he enjoyed he used to the best ad- 
vantage. He undertook to visit the Jews in the various parts of 
Assyria, encouraging them to faithfully observe the law of God, 
and helped them with money. Of the elder Tobias it can be said 
that he neglected not a single good work that he could do. 

After the death of the king, his son, Sennacherib, assumed the 
reign. He laid siege to Jerusalem, but was repulsed, and returned 
home with a small remnant of a vast army. Unable to conquer the 
city of David, he took revenge on the Jews whom his father had 
made prisoners. Sennacherib enacted very severe laws against the 
Jewish captives, revoking all favors and privileges that some Jews 
had enjoyed during the reign of Salmanassar. An offense hardly 
noticed when committed by a pagan was made punishable by death 
if wrought by a Jew. Indeed, the observance of most Jewish cus- 
toms was forbidden under pain of death. 

The elder Tobias had to suffer with the rest. His office was 
taken from him, and he was deprived of the privilege of freely going 
about. Still we do not find Tobias any the less zealous for the law 
of God. It was under pain of death forbidden to bury a Jew. The 
corpse of a Jew was to be left as food for wild animals. Tobias, 



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however, would hide the corpse in his home, and bury it at night. 
Through the loss of the royal favor he was no longer able to travel 
about to console other sufferers. With old age coming upon him he 
became poor. To aid to his misfortune he lost his eyesight. 

At this time the elder Tobias found it necessary to collect a large 
debt, a debt of ten talents of silver. This meant a fortune at that 
time. The distance from the abode of Tobias to Rages in Medea 
w^as great. It meant a journey of over a week each way. The 
way, moreover, was dangerous. Wild animals and equally ferocious 
robbers made traveling very unsafe. In fact, journeys were not 
undertaken unless a number of men would go together to share 
the hardships and dangers of the trip.. Old Tobias was in a 
quandary. To whom of all his pagan neighbors could he confide 
the fact that his son was to collect a large amount of money ? Such 
knowledge would have meant not only the loss of the money but the 
death of his son. To send his son without any companion was a 
great risk. How could this youth defeat robbers and wild animals 
singlehanded ? 

Yet, there seemed nothing else possible for young Tobias but to go 
alone, but as he stepped forth from the house, he met another 
young man equipped for a long journey. He informs Tobias that 
he, too, is bound for the same city of Rages. Young Tobias re- 
enters the house with the stranger and who may imagine the joy 
of the old, blind father on hearing that the young stranger is jour- 
neying to the very place to which Tobias himself must go to collect 
the debt. 

With the blessings of the aged parent, Tobias and his companion 
undertake the journey. On the way they were to stop at the house 
of a distant relative of Tobias. The two had not traveled very far 
before Tobias began to realize that his companion was not an ordi- 



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269 



nary young man. While he did not suspect the truth he had com- 
plete confidence in the wisdom and power of his mysterious com- 
panion, and obeyed him willingly. Hence, when his companion in- 
formed him that he should marry the daughter of the man they were 
to visit, his word was law to young Tobias. The companion let 
Tobias stay with these people while he journeyed to Rages to col- 
lect the debt. On his return he stopped for Tobias and his bride 
and accompanied them home. 

Upon the return, when the elder Tobias was miraculously cured 
of bhndness, this mysterious companion revealed his identity. 
Young Tobias had traveled with an archangel of God, and did not 
know him. When the angel's mission was accomplished he disap- 
peared, asking the astonished people to praise and thank God for 
His grace and benevolence. 

We often hear people say that in our time and country it is almost 
impossible to raise boys in the proper way. And as the reason for 
this statement parents will point to the ever spreading bad example 
round about us. 

It depends upon you, boys, to prove that the fears of your par- 
ents are without foundation. 

For this reason I have given you a sketch of the times of young 
Tobias. 

This boy grew up in Niniveh, a godless, pagan city. He grew up 
among other children, both Jewish and pagan. Since young Tobias 
was not blind and deaf he could not help seeing and hearing much 
wickedness. And yet, with all the bad example he had to witness, 
he did not waver for a moment in his faith. No doubt, a number 
of his Jewish playmates inclined towards paganism. He could not 
but see their bad example. Yet he remained steadfast in his faith. 



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The conditions are similar in our day. The children of lax Catholics 
or of mixed marriages frequently fall away from the faith. And 
just as an apostate Catholic is more inimical to the faith than even a 
Protestant, so a fallen away Jew in those days was more antagon- 
istic to Hebrew customs than even a pagan, and eager to ignore the 
Jewish laws. 

You understand, then, that Tobias saw much wicked example. 
In spite of all that he remained a saintly boy. No doubt, he was 
exposed to slights and insults, was laughed at and mocked by his 
own people as well as by young pagans. Nothing, however, could 
make him forsake the faith of his fathers. His pious parents did 
all in their power to teach him the requirements of the Mosaic law, 
and the virtues he was to practice. The home of Tobias was a 
temple of God, and all the wickedness of a pagan people, all the 
bad example of fallen away Jews, had no bad effect upon him. He 
remained pure in mind and heart. 

Do you think that, if young Tobias had been a boy given to the 
vices he saw about him, God would have given him the extraordi- 
nary grace of having the archangel, Raphael, as a traveling com- 
panion? His innocence and piety must have been extraordinary, 
otherwise he would not have received such singular favor. 

Now let us get at the lesson the life of the young Tobias teaches. 

We are placed in a world in which we cannot help seeing and 
hearing many things that are wrong and wicked. That we will meet 
scandals, that we will be sorely tried, goes without saying. We are 
unable to escape from our surroundings. We will have to stay 
where we are and make the best of it. All we can do is to let the 
world go its way while we go ours. 

Like young Tobias, so are you surrounded on all sides by wick- 
edness. In factories and shops the very air is often poisoned with 



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271 



foul talk. The time may come when the performance of your 
religious duties, the saying of prayers, attending Holy Mass and 
receiving the Holy Sacraments, may appear a burden for you. You 
will see bad example, not only from those who know not God, but 
from others of whom you would least expect it. But when you see 
all this spiritual desolation think of young Tobias. He was not 
misled by it, neither should you. The bad example round about you 
is no permit for you to do the same. We can never be forced to sin. 

You sometimes hear of so-called reformers, trying to reform the 
whole world at one swoop. To these people everything is wrong. 
They pose as self-appointed reformers, but make one big mistake. 
They start at the wrong end. We can never reform the world with 
the passage of a law. If we desire to reform the world, so far as 
it is in our power, we must start at the right end. We must start 
not with Jones or Smith or Brown, but with ourselves. If each one 
of us would try to lead a better life the face of the world would 
soon be changed. 

Since most people, however, consider reform somewhat like 
Castor Oil, prefering to prescribe it rather than take it, the world 
will remain what it is. But there is no need to throw up the sponge 
and follow the way of the world. Think of young Tobias, imitate 
him in his purity and piety. He met with the same difficulties that 
you meet with. 

To protect you against the example of the sinful world I cannot give 
you better advice than that which the rules of the Sodality suggest. 
Holy Mother Church has the experience of over nineteen hundred 
years. The fact that she heartily approves of the Sodality and en- 
dows it with many spiritual favors shows what value she ascribes 
to it. Always live up to the rules and regulations of the Sodality, the 
cardinal points of which are: daily prayers, frequent Confession 



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and Holy Communion^ and a childlike devotion to our Blessed 
Mother. 

Of the dangers besetting youth, it is true, there are many. Many 
also, are the graces you receive. Endeavor to show that, with the 
graces at your disposal, it is possible to lead a clean and pure life, 
in a world that teems with wickedness and temptation. 



DANIEL 



273 



XLV. Daniel 

My Dear Boys : — Daniel as a boy of fourteen years was, together 
with thousands of other Jews, taken captive and brought to Baby- 
lon. The boy being of noble birth and of handsome appearance, 
the king, Nabuchodonosor, selected him to be brought up in the 
manner of the children of the Babylonian nobility. The youthful 
Daniel thus received a training that qualified him to attend the 
royal court and to occupy such position of rank as the king might 
confer upon him. Daniel, destined to receive greater honors and 
a higher rank than even this king could give him, showed as a boy 
two certain traits to which I would direct your especial attention, 
and you will find in the boy Daniel a shining model, worthy of your 
imitation. 

Having been admitted to the royal school, his life had no longer 
anything in common with the other Jews in this captivity. He 
enjoyed the liberty and privileges of the native nobility, yet his 
good fortune and the splendor of the court did not turn his head. 
Neither did he forget his God. Though only a boy, Daniel did not 
forget that the law of Moses was at all times the law of his life. 
Dishes were set before him made of forbidden meats. He knew 
he was not allowed to eat them. Did he try to discover some ex- 
cuse for evading the law? Did he hunt for arguments to dispense 
himself, perhaps urging the plea that in a pagan land it was im- 
possible to observe the Jewish law to the letter? He did nothing 
of the kind. He sought and received permission to eat the food 
of the Jews. Both his teacher and his king, far from being offended 
at the action of Daniel, thought all the more of him because of his 
faithfulness to his principles. 



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In this faithfulness to the law of Moses, Daniel is for us a grand 
example of respect for the laws of the Church. 

The law of Moses ended with the death of Christ. The genuine 
sacrifice having been offered upon the Cross, the symbols that only 
foreshadowed it had lost the reason for their existence. Since the 
real sacrifice was to continue to the end of time, the law of the 
Old Testament had to make way for the law of the New Testament. 
As the Jews had the law of Moses, we, of the Church, have the 
law of the Church. The laws of the New Testament have the same 
binding power as did the laws of Moses in the Old Testament, since 
the Author of both is the same — God. Indeed, the laws of the New 
Testament are still more sacred than the laws of Moses. Those 
laws were but a shadow of what was to come, and the laws of the 
New Testament are the fulfilment and perfection of the Mosaic 
law. If, then, even the law of Moses had such a solemn and bind- 
ing force, what should be said of the more perfect law, the law of 
the New Testament? And yet we find not a few Christians who 
consider the laws of the New Testament, the laws of the Church, 
as of little importance. They will observe these laws if the ob- 
servation is convenient or agreeable, but they will disregard them 
when inclination prompts them, or when their observance demands 
sacrifice. 

Take, for instance, the law of hearing holy Mass on Sundays 
and on holy days of obligation. What excuses are discovered to 
evade this law! There is the excuse of time and distance. This 
obstacle might easily be overcome by getting up earlier. That, 
however, is inconvenient. Then there are business considerations 
that make going to church impossible. Again, it will be either too 
hot or too cold, the roads are either too dusty or too muddy, and so 
the lukewarm Catholic will find many excuses to stay away from 



DANIEL 



275 



holy Mass on Sundays. According to the law of Moses every Jew 
was obliged to go to the Temple once a year. Since there was but 
one Temple, the Temple in Jerusalem, it meant that those who lived 
far away had a long journey. It took some people a month to make 
this annual pilgrimage to the Temple. It meant that these people 
would have to stop their daily work for the entire time this journey 
would last. The journey meant hardships and expense, and yet the 
faithful Jews went to the Temple of Jerusalem every year from 
all parts of the land. When we consider these long and difficult 
journeys of the Jews to their Temple, it will be hard indeed to ex- 
plain the laxity of some Catholics. 

Another law of the Church frequently broken is the law of fast 
and abstinence. What idle excuses are invented to escape the ob- 
ligation of fasting and of abstaining! Protestants may not under- 
stand why we abstain from meat on a Friday, or why we fast at 
certain times of the year. Although they claim their Bible is the 
rule of life, they seem to overlook some of the things Christ com- 
manded. Penance is one of them. Christ Himself, by word and 
example, prescribed fasting. But what Protestants do know is 
that Catholics are bidden to abstain from the use of meat on cer- 
tain days and to fast at some seasons of the year. And when they 
see that a Catholic fails to obey the law of his Church, they know 
that this is either a faithless or cowardly Catholic. Some of our 
Protestant friends keep a close watch upon us. They may poke 
fun at us for being overzealous in obeying the laws of our holy 
Church, but in their heart they will admire us for being loyal to 
the dictates of our conscience. They may praise some lukewarm 
Catholic for his indifference to the laws of the Church and call it 
progress or up-to-dateness, but that will not make them put a great 



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deal of confidence in him, because they feel instinctively that a man 
who is untrue to God can not be true to man. 

During the Thirty- Year War in Germany a Franciscan convent 
was broken into by a mob of Protestant soldiers. The friars were 
lined up and given the choice of either forswearing their faith and 
vows and joining the soldiers, or instant death. All but one de- 
clared they would rather die than renounce their faith. The one 
who wavered was the youngest of the friars. He was promised 
by the officer all kinds of favors if he would yield, and he yielded. 
The other friars were hanged. The unfortunate young friar took 
off the holy habit and expected to be treated with much favor. His 
ready denial of his faith, however, caused the soldiers to distrust 
the young friar, and quickly coming to the conclusion that he was 
worthless, the soldiers hung him right next to those saintly men 
who had willingly died for their faith. A man who denies his faith 
is mistrusted, and, what is more, he should be mistrusted. 

The Jews of the Old Testament had a law of fasting and ab- 
stinence. The Jew was not allowed to eat pork. Other meats were 
considered unclean if the animals were not killed according to the 
Mosaic regulation. The Jews regarded these laws so sacred that 
they would die rather than eat forbidden meats. 

But we Christians, what a variety of excuses are offered by many 
of us to render the law of fasting and abstinence null and void. 
And the people who are so eager to find excuses from fasting ignore 
the fact that, if really dispensed from fasting, they must perform 
some other work of penance. There are, of course, legitimate 
excuses from fasting. But in no case does that mean a general 
dispensation from all works of penance. Such a dispensation can 
never be granted. Instead of humbly deploring that they are unable 
to follow the example of Christ in fasting, some of these people 



DANIEL 



boast even of the fact that they need not fast; they even ridicule 
others for being so foolish as to fast. 

Another law of the Church persistently misinterpreted in spite 
of all that can be said in explanation of it, is the law prescribing 
the reception of holy Communion at Easter time. The interpre- 
tation of this law favored by lax people is that one Communion 
during the year is all that can be expected from them, and that by 
obeying this law they are exemplary Catholics, better, perhaps, 
than those who receive the Sacraments too often! This interpre- 
tation, however, is not the one which the Church sanctions. In this 
law the Church simply states that the very least a Catholic must do 
is to receive holy Communion once a year, during the Easter season. 
If he fails to do even that, he manifests his intention to be no longer 
a true member of the Church. The Church was compelled to make 
this law to meet the laxity of some of her members. If the time 
had been made every ten or twenty years, there would be some who 
would limit their receiving the Sacraments to that time. The 
Church did never imply that this one holy Communion at Easter 
time is sufficient for our sanctification. Her intention is that by 
receiving holy Communion at Easter time we must show that we 
are members, and wish to remain members of the Church. If one 
Confession and holy Communion a year would be enough, how 
much would the work of the priest be lessened! There would be 
no necessity of going to the sick and dying and of hearing their 
confessions. No longer any need for the priest to spend long hours 
in the confessional. 

Whenever you hear a man talking against going often to Confes- 
sion, there is usually a '^reason." You can not point out a single 
saint who had any objection against going to Confession. Some of 
the saints went to Confession every day, others two and three times 



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2L week. None delayed it for more than a week if they could help it. 
The pioneer priest of Lansing, Michigan, walked all the distance 
from there to Grand Rapids, about seventy miles, to go to Con- 
fession to a brother priest. What excuses will on the Day of 
Judgment those have for whom a distance of a few blocks to 
church is too far? 

Another law of the Church often treated lightly is the law re- 
garding mixed marriages. Unless you are careful, you boys may 
be paving the way to such an unhappy union. For that reason 
never permit yourself to become too chummy with persons of an- 
other faith. I do not mean that you should despise them, or look 
down upon them, for the law of charity binds you as solemnly 
toward them as toward those of our own faith. But you must 
take care not to form friendships that in the end might lead to a 
mixed marriage. There is in these words no bigotry. Well-mean- 
ing Protestants will be as much opposed to mixed marriages as 
we are. In most such cases both the Catholic as well as the 
Protestant party are weak in their faith, and that fact alone is 
proof that their religious life and the religious training of their 
children will not amount to much when there is no harmony of 
faith between the parents. 

Many people have a wrong idea about the laws of the Church. 
Rigorous as the laws of Moses were, they were for the welfare of 
the Jewish people. By obeying them to the letter they derived 
benefits that would never have been within their reach had they 
ignored them. So, too, the laws of the Church have been enacted 
for the sake of promoting the temporal and spiritual welfare of 
the Christian people. Therefore these laws must be revered and 
obeyed, even though they occasionally demand sacrifice on our 
part. 



DANIEL 



279 



We will now consider the other beautiful trait in the boy Daniel, 
and that was his childlike confidence in God. In the king's presence 
and in the den of the lions this confidence in the power and mercy 
of God never forsook him. 

We are inclined to depend too much upon ourselves. We glory 
in our little strength, though even that is not our own but given 
us by God. We depend upon the health of our body, which God can 
take from us as easily as He has given it. If we succeed, we take 
all the credit to ourselves ; if we lose, we say the odds were against 
us. Yet we have all the reason in the world to put our trust only 
in the power and mercy of God. He finds ways and means where 
our ingenuity would be at a loss to know what to do. 

Let the life of youthful Daniel be a lesson teaching you always 
to observe faithfully the laws of the Church. Never seek excuses 
for evading the laws of the Church when there is a possibility of 
complying with them. Another good practice for you will be never 
to make even use of such excuses that in your charity you may con- 
sider valid in the case of others. Imitate the saints in this manner. 
While they were generous in excusing others, they were most rigor- 
ous with themselves. Finally, in obeying the laws of the Church, 
increase your confidence in the power and mercy of God. God 
has at all times taken care of His own. We can never lose by 
pleasing God. The world may not like it, and may invent all kinds 
of lures or punishments to make us turn away from God. Come 
what may, like Daniel, we too will remain true to God. He will 
find a way for us that will increase our consolation on earth, and 
our greater glory in the world to come. 



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XLVI. Samuel 

My Dear Boys: In our days we notice a sad lack of religious 
vocations. The few willing ones must often overcome great ob- 
stacles before they can realize their fond hopes. Many whom God 
may have fitted for a religious life shrink back from it, fearing that 
its duties would prove too burdensome. Like the rich youth whom 
Christ had asked to follow Him, they have not the heart to make 
the sacrifice demanded by a religious vocation. And so it happens 
that misguided people seek happiness in vain, since the world is 
unable to give what only God has within His power to bestow. 

To put before you a model of the religious vocation, let me direct 
your attention to the boy Samuel. His pious parents brought him 
to the temple almost as soon as he was able to walk. There, to- 
gether with other boys, he was brought up to prepare him.self for 
his sacred calling. Samuel was the son of saintly parents. He had 
been given to them after years of prayer. The mother, indeed, had 
made a vow that, if God would give her a boy, he should be dedi- 
cated to the service of God. God heard that prayer, and the saintly 
mother kept her vow. From the very start the little boy showed 
signs of extraordinary piety. He considered it the greatest honor 
to be in and of the temple. His virtuous conduct was a model and 
a source of edification for all the rest. Hence God chose him for 
great things. Above all, the boy had but one desire — to do the holy 
Will of God. No task was too hard, no sacrifice too great, when 
there was the holy Will of God. Had God intended nothing more 
for Samuel than sweeping the steps of the temple, he would have 
thanked God for that favor as much as for any other. 



SAMUEL 



281 



The readiness of Samuel to follow the call to a religious life is 
worthy of our earnest imitation. 

A religious vocation is the highest calling to which God can sum- 
mon anyone. It means the call of God to greater work on earth 
and greater glory in heaven. It means that God wishes certain 
souls to occupy higher rank. Kings, emperors and presidents of 
big republics outrank all others in their respective countries. None 
equal them there in honors and dignities. But in the kingdom of 
heaven the humble lay brother of a religious community will take a 
higher rank than the mightiest emperor the world ever had. 

It is evident, then, that he who has received a calling to the re- 
ligious life should embrace it gladly and willingly. Alas, such is 
not always the case. Unfortunately many vocations to the religious 
life are thwarted by parental interference, many are ignored by 
those who are called. 

When speaking of vocations in general, I explained to you that 
both our temporal and our eternal happiness depends upon the 
choice we take. Indeed, most if not all the misfortune and un- 
happiness in the world is traceable to the fact that these people 
have not chosen the vocation to which God called them. Bitter 
disappointments come to those who do not follow their call to the 
religious life, thinking they are going to have nothing but pleasures 
in the world. It is exactly as though they tried to get the better of 
God. Before long they will find out their mistake. 

Some years ago a certain girl entered the convent. The foolish 
mother then imagined that she could not live without her daughter. 
She came to the convent frequently and cried and lamented when she 
saw her daughter dressed in the religious habit. She would talk 
only of her not being able to live if her daughter would not return. 
Finally the girl was overwhelmed by the lamentations of her mother, 



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She took off her habit and returned home. Her first words on re- 
entering her home were : "Mother, I am afraid you will feel sorry 
for what you made me do." However, the selfish mother was satis- 
fied. She had her girl back home and everything was lovely, so far 
as she was concerned. But the girl was a changed girl. The mother's 
preachings began to bear fruit. Before she entered the convent she 
was known for her quiet and gentle disposition. Upon her return 
home she soon became frivolous and giddy. While formerly she 
had loved prayer, her parents soon found it hard to induce her to 
go even to Mass on Sundays. When at length the mother be- 
came troubled and tried to persuade her to drop some of the young 
men of her acquaintance, she found out that she had nothing to say. 
The end was that the girl eloped with one of these good-for-nothing 
men. They were married before a justice. The husband has no 
religion whatsoever, and she is now a fallen away Catholic. She 
became the mother of a family, and one thing she teaches her 
children is to hate the Church and everything the Church stands 
for. Now the old lady remembers the words of her daughter: 
"Mother, I am afraid you will feel sorry for what you have made 
me do." Had the girl remained in the convent she would have 
saved her own soul, and would have been the means of saving many 
more. Now she has brought souls into this world and bends every 
effort to turn these souls as well as her own away from God. She 
heaps misery upon herself and upon others, whereas she might 
spread grace and blessings. Such is the result of ignoring, or in- 
terfering with, a religious vocation. 

I knew a young man who had for some years been studying for 
the priesthood. All at once he gave up his studies. When I asked 
him why he did so he answered that he did not think he would be 
able to stand for all that priests must bear silently. "There is not 



SAMUEL 



283 



a body of men," he said, "that is more reviled, mistrusted and 
abused than priests. I might bear some of this from outsiders, 
but when even Catholics would slander and revile me, I do not 
think I could bear it." 

I tried to explain to him that we are as human as the rest of 
mankind, and that, if it were not for the plentiful graces conferred 
upon us in Holy Orders, not one of us would be willing, or able, to 
undergo all the trials the sacred calling requires of us. 

Undoubtedly he lacked one of the most important qualifications, 
the confidence in God. It may have been just as well that this 
young man stepped out. Yet, whether he will ever be happy in the 
world is a great question. A religious vocation is something not to 
be trifled with. 

It is my opinion that boys are all too hasty in deciding their voca- 
tions. Because they may not be called to be priests, they take it for 
granted that they must learn some trade and get married. While 
it is true that the majority of mankind is intended for the married 
state, this does not apply to all without exception. A boy may not 
be called to the priesthood, and yet God may want him to enter the 
religious life. God may still desire a great sacrifice from him. The 
religious life includes other vocations besides the priesthood. God 
may wish some boy to be a lay brother, devoting his life to one of 
the various callings in a monastery. Then we have orders that 
devote all their efforts to teaching. They supply teachers for 
schools, for colleges and universities. Other orders there are that 
devote all their time to caring for wayward and homeless boys, 
teaching them various trades, so they may earn an honest living. 
Other orders take care of orphan asylums. There are brothers who 
tend incurable patients. These brothers take only the worst 
cases, such that ordinary hospitals refuse to handle. The variety 



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of work which the various orders make their object, correspond 
with the various gifts and talents and incUnations of those zealous 
for a religious vocation. You see, then, that a boy need not neces- 
sarily become a priest to partake of the religious life. Physicians 
have been known to become brothers at some hospital, and they 
made themselves very useful indeed. Any trade you know would 
qualify you to enter a brotherhood that has for its object the bring- 
ing up of homeless and wayward boys. An inclination to teach 
may fit you to become a member of a brotherhood that devotes all 
its efforts to teaching in schools, colleges and universities. It is 
true, you may be a physician in the world and do much good, you 
may be an industrious workingman, or teacher, or professor, but 
by embracing a religious life and practising your vocation you do 
greater good, and at the same time sanctify your life in a more 
perfect manner. 

Two of your school mates are now preparing themselves to be- 
come priests. For a crowd of boys as great as this, two is indeed 
a small number. There should be more religious vocations in a 
number as large as yours. Possibly God may have called only these 
two of you to be His priests, but He may desire to see a number 
of you as lay brothers in some hospital or monastery. The harvest, 
indeed, is great, but of workers there are few. In times of yore 
convents were overcrowded. Now the orders go begging for appli- 
cants. They are handicapped in their work and in their growth, all 
for lack of vocations. There is a crying need for them in our 
country as well as in pagan lands. The Church could open more 
schools, more hospitals, more asylums, if she had more religious. 

Since we must take it for granted that God wants the work of 
saving souls carried on the same as in the past, we cannot help but 
think that vocations must be as plentiful as the work at hand. 



SAMUEL 



285 



Hence when we see convents and monasteries half empty, there is 
grave reason to fear that many religious vocations are ignored. 

Nor is it very hard to detect the chief reason for the neglect of 
vocations. The world is money-mad. Money means power, it 
means greatness, it means honor, it means pleasure. Money covers 
a multitude of sins. The worst scoundrel, if he has plenty of 
money, is a respected man. The honest man without a bank book 
is despised. 

Money has a charm that few can resist. You, too, will come 
under the spell if you do not look out. Bear in mind that money is 
not everything in this world. The holy Will of God is above and 
beyond every earthly consideration. And if it is the holy Will of 
God that some of you should enter the religious life, and devote 
your time and talents to teaching or any other work of charity, 
be as willing and ready as was the little boy Samuel. Say with him : 
"Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth." 



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XL VII. St. Sebastian 



My Dear Boys: — To find a youth reaching the years of man- 
hood and still having the heart of a child is not an easy matter. Even 
more difficult it is to find a soldier with childlike simplicity. Yet 
both was true in the case of St. Sebastian. He was the son of 
wealthy and noble parents. For a boy in his station of life it was 
the natural thing to join the army. Worldly people saw in this 
course the opportunity to reap the honors and glories of war. 
St. Sebastian saw another opportunity in being a soldier. On ac- 
count of his bravery, his noble birth, and, above all, on account of 
his amiable qualities, the emperor Diocletian bestowed special favor 
upon him. His rise in rank was rapid. Honors that come to 
others only after they have passed the better part of their life in the 
military service, were his at the very threshold of Hfe. Eventually 
the young saint was given one of the most important and coveted 
honors when the emperor appointed him captain of the imperial 
body guard. 

The time of this emperor's reign was a sad and yet glorious time for 
holy Church. Her sons and daughters were slain by the hundreds 
and thousands, for no other reason than that they were Christians. 
No age and no sex was spared. No Christian family was influential 
enough to escape the hatred and the fury of the heathen mob. Not 
a day passed but some Christians had to shed their blood for the 
faith. The prisons were crowded with Christians destined to suffer 
torture and death. Many Christians sought a hiding place in the 



ST. SEBASTIAN 



287 



catacombs. Among these oppressed Christians the presence of an 
imperial officer as their friend must have been a strange sight. 
When Sebastian had performed his military duties of the day he 
was found with the Christians. He would go from prison to prison, 
encouraging the suffering Christians and having a kind word for 
all. He would seek those that were in hiding, assisting them with 
advice and with money, clothing and food. Whenever he heard 
of some who, overcome by adversity, gave indications of denying 
their faith, he hastened to see them and admonish them. As one of 
the results we have two saints who in all probability would have 
fallen away had it not been for the admonition and instruction of 
Sebastian. Two brothers were accused of being Christians and 
placed in prison. Their parents and wives, being pagans, came 
to the prison daily, begging them to make a public retraction and 
thus save their lives for their sakes. The judge, feeling confident 
that the combined appeals of wives and parents would win in the 
end, delayed the execution of sentence. In the meantime these two 
brothers had to undergo many trials. How were they to resist 
steadfastly the tearful appeals of parents, of wives and children? 
They began to waver in their faith. St. Sebastian heard of the 
distress of these two brothers, Marcus and Marcelinus, and at once 
he went to their prison to speak to them. His visit was so suc- 
cessful that he not only made them steadfast in their faith, but he 
converted their father and mother, and even the soldier who 
guarded the prisoners. They all became martyrs and saints. 

Once he healed the wife of a soldier by making the sign of the 
cross over her. Seeing her miraculous recovery, both she and her 
husband asked to be baptized. The saint converted also the military 
governor of Rome, Chromatius, and many others. 

St. Sebastian had devised a wonderful plan for his life. He 



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chose to be a soldier not for the sake of glory, but to do good. 
Knowing the sore distress of the Christians, he saw that he could 
be of more help to them as a soldier than in any other calling. Had 
he so desired he might have stayed in Milan, his native city. But 
since the Christians were not much molested there, he asked to be 
transferred to Rome. He lived in Rome from 283 to 288, when he 
died the death of a martyr. With many spies about him, it was no 
easy matter to do for the Christians what the saint was doing 
for five years. At last he was accused of being a Christian. The 
emperor acted as though he had never seen Sebastian. He forgot 
all at once that Sebastian was his most trusted officer. Rank, 
wealth and influence were unable to save Sebastian. He was con- 
demned to die. 

The emperor in his rage decided that the saint should die a pe- 
culiarly cruel death. A company of soldiers was detailed to make 
a target of the saint. They were to hit him with their arrows, but 
were directed not to touch a vital spot, so that his death was to be 
Hngering and most painful. When the soldiers thought that they 
had done their work they left the saint. That night a Christian 
woman foimd him. Thinking that he was dead, she carried him to 
her home to prepare the body and bury it in the catacombs with 
the bodies of other martyrs. To her great surprise the saint 
gave signs of life. She dressed his wounds and cared for him until 
he fully recovered. When the saint was again able to walk, he 
went to see the emperor. Diocletian, being superstitious and having 
a bad conscience, was seized with terrible fear when he saw the 
late captain of his bodyguard. He thought he saw a ghost. But 
the saint did not leave him long in doubt. He told the emperor 
that he, too, would one day meet his judge, and would have to 
render an account for all the blood he had on his conscience, and 



ST. SEBASTIAN 



289 



that this judge would be the living God whom the Christians adore. 

These words were anything but pleasant to the emperor. When 
he got over his fright he ordered the soldiers to put the courageous 
saint to death on the spot. 

And so the saint died, having been active in Rome for five years 
to help and console the oppressed Christians, who were much in 
need of a hero like him. 

After his death the saint appeared to a pious woman, revealing 
to her where his body might be found, and requesting a Christian 
burial. His body was thus recovered and brought to the cata- 
combs. Subsequently a church was built in Rome in honor of the 
saint, and his remains were transferred to that church as their final 
resting place. 

The life of St. Sebastian teaches us two important lessons. 

At the present time people are too prone to leave all spiritual 
work to the priest, never thinking for a moment that they, too, 
should do their share of it. People of the world content themselves 
with the poorest kind of religious knowledge. They leave to the 
priest the work of making converts. That, they claim, is the busi- 
ness of the priest. When a Catholic is asked the easiest kind of 
a question regarding his religion he is likely to be at a loss for an 
answer. He may say he has no time to bother with such affairs. 
The truth will be often that he knows absolutely nothing about his re- 
ligion, and he tries to cover up his ignorance by a flippant answer. If 
any one of you should see another boy growing careless in his re- 
ligious duties, will you have the heart to go up to that boy to remind 
him gently of his religious duties, to encourage him in a kindly 
way to do better in future? 'Why," you may say, '%at is none of 
my business. Let the priest see to this case." In this matter St. 
Sebastian teaches us an impressive lesson. He was not a priest, yet 



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he made converts. He was a soldier, not a member of a missionary 
society. Yet he thought it his duty to do the very thing that people 
now leave entirely to the priest. From a soldier one would scarcely 
expect such fervor and conviction as this saint shov/ed in his short 
but beautiful life. 

How many converts have you brought to the Church? If you 
intimately know a Protestant boy, do you ever try and bring him 
to church on some solemn occasion, such as a mission, Forty Hours 
Devotion, or other special services ? Do you ever hand him a book 
to read that offers instruction in religious matters? When others 
talk about religious matters in a sincere way, are you willing to help 
them find the truth by giving them the benefit of your informa- 
tion ? Do not answer that is the business of the priest ! Of course 
it is his business. No one will deny that. But the priest needs 
your help. It is your business to help the priest in making con- 
verts. In the first place those of another faith often have an inex- 
plicable fear of the priest. They will avoid the priest if they can. 
It is your business to remove that fear or prejudice. What the 
priest wants is that you pave the way for him. He will gladly do 
the rest. Bring such people to church from time to time. Let them 
listen to an able sermon. Give them some suitable book, like the 
"Faith of Our Fathers/' and above all, give them the benefit of 
your own good example. Very few Protestants will have the grit 
to go to a priest without some Catholic friend coming along with 
them. They may have doubts about their religion and long for an 
opportunity of being introduced to a priest. And if that oppor- 
tunity is denied them, they will live in constant dread and doubt 
for years, and possibly die in that state. Yes, many of you boys 
could bring converts to the Church if you had a little of the zeal 
that St. Sebastian had. 



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And then there is a certain class of Catholic boys and young men 
that will hasten out of their way when they see their priest coming 
along. You know who they are. For a time they were members 
of the Sodality, and then they began to grow careless. You missed 
them at the roll call of the conferences, at monthly Communions, at 
holy Mass on Sundays. They drop their friends of the Sodality 
and pick up bad company. The priest can do very little with such 
boys unless you make the start. They will avoid the priest. In 
such cases it is your duty to speak to them in a kindly way, asking 
them to come to church with you. Pick out the Sodality Sunday 
and ask them to receive the Sacraments with you. If they will not 
listen to you the first time, pray for them all the more, and try 
again. If they do go to Confession, the grace of God and the 
words of the priest will do the rest. But don't you see that you 
must help? 

Look at the example of St. Sebastian and get rid of the notion 
that the priest is the only missionary in his parish. Each one of 
you should be a little missionary. If every one of you would be a 
missionary as St. Sebastian was, if every one of you brought only 
one convert to the rectory, how both the parish and the sodality 
would grow! These converts then would add their share of con- 
verts, and thus form an endless chain of zeal for the salvation of 
souls. Make it a point to note all those who, for some reason or 
other, have a dread of approaching the priest. If they are Catholics, 
remind them gently and kindly of their duties; if they are not 
Catholics, do all you can to remove their doubts, their fears and 
prejudices. 

The other lesson this saint teaches us is seen in his tender care 
of the poor and suffering. 

Of course we have a St. Vincent de Paul Society to take care of 



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the poor. But the strength and resuh of any society depends on 
the quality and number of its members. You are in error by think- 
ing that this society is to be joined only by the few rich of the 
parish. If you have only a few pennies to spare you may be one 
of its members. You can help the investigating committee to find 
poor who are ashamed to beg, and thus help in lessening suffering 
both temporal and spiritual. 

St. Sebastian spent his wealth in alleviating the suffering of the 
poor and of the prisoners. He realized his risk in visiting the poor 
and the prisoners, yet that did not prevent him from exercising his 
works of mercy. 

Let us, then, ask this gentle saint that through his intercession we 
may become possessed of his zeal for the salvation of souls, and 
that each one of us may be a missionary and an angel of mercy. 



ST. ALOYSIUS 



293 



XLVIII. St. Aloysius 

My Dear Boys: — There are few churches without a statue or 
picture of St. Aloysius. Many churches are named in his honor. 
Most SodaHties of boys are under the protection of St. Aloysius. 
He is without doubt a sublime model for a Catholic boy. 

St. Aloysius was bom March 9, 1569, at Castiglione, Italy. His 
father, Ferdinand de Gonzaga, was the reigning duke of the prin- 
cipality of Castiglione. His parents were very pious people. The 
first words his saintly mother taught him were the holy names of 
Jesus and Mary. He was able to make the sign of the Cross before 
he could say the words of that blessing. His conduct from child- 
hood up was so blameless that he was called an angel in the flesh. 
At the age of eight years he was brought to the court of the Me- 
dicis, where his gentle manners and his piety gained universal ad- 
miration. At the age of twelve he had the grace of meeting 
another saint, St. Charles Borromeo, by whom he was prepared for 
his first holy Communion. What a beautiful sight it must have 
been for God and the angels to see these two saints, the one teaching 
and the other eagerly listening to every word regarding Jesus, the 
Son of the living God, in the Tabernacle. Some time after his first 
holy Communion his father introduced him to the court of Spain, 
where he, together with his younger brother, was made a page. 
At the Spanish court the young saint was noted for his great 
modesty. Though as a page he was almost constantly in the 
presence of king and queen, he never raised his eyes to look at the 
face of the queen. When he left the court he had never seen the 
queen's face. Even before the saint was introduced at the royal 
court he had resolved to leave the world and enter a monastery, 



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and tiie glitter and pomp of the court never caused him to waver 
in this intention. 

Needless to say, his resolution to renounce the crown in favor 
of his younger brother was a great shock to his father. ''You have 
inflicted a wound," he said, "that will bleed for years to come. 
But," he continued, ''if it is the holy Will of God that you should 
enter a monastery, by all means do so in the name of God." 

St. Aloysius then renounced all rights and claims upon the crown 
of Castiglione in favor of his younger brother. Immediately after 
he appeared before the General of the Society of Jesus, applying 
for admission. 

His father had planned a brilliant worldly career for his saintly 
boy. He had felt that the honor of his name, the welfare of the 
crown and his people, would be in able hands after his death. In- 
side and out of the castle Aloysius was idolized. In his manners 
he was unassuming, yet always graceful, cordial yet never free or 
bold, dignified and yet without airs. In his studies he outclassed 
all. He was advanced beyond those of his own age. Yet he was 
never haughty or inclined to indolence, although one or both of 
these characteristics often go with a brilliant mind. It is no won- 
der, then, that his father was so reluctant to lose him. No wonder 
he broke out in those famous words of a heartbroken father: "You 
have inflicted a wound that will bleed for years to come." 

The members of the Society of Jesus are known for having most 
brilliant minds among them. But even among that select circle of 
great minds the brilliancy of Aloysius called forth words of tm- 
stinted praise. He finished his university course at the age of 
seventeen, and passed with highest honors a public examination in 
philosophy and theology. At the age of nineteen he passed the 
examination of his order, to which, as a rule, its members are 



ST. ALOYSIUS 



295 



hardly ever called before they are nearly twice this age. When 
we recall that the saint finished his university course when only 
seventeen years of age, we need not be surprised that his teachers 
and professors foretold a great future for him. 

In the year 1591 a pestilence broke out in Rome and carried off 
many of the people. The youthful Aloysius asked permission to 
take care of the sick and dying. 

In times of such calamities churches and convents were often 
turned into hospitals. Pious men of the world formed societies 
for the care of the sick and the burial of the dead. The sickness 
being very contagious, most of these willing workers contracted it 
and died as martyrs of charity. 

Aloysius, having weakened his health with works of mortifica- 
tion and with fasting, was not strong enough to withstand the strain 
of the hard work, and he died as one of these martyrs of charity on 
June 21, 1591, when he was twenty-three years of age. 

The predominant virtue of the saint was his holy purity. When 
people called him an angel in the flesh it was no idle flattery. Ac- 
cording to the testimony of all those that knew the saint intimately, 
he is never known to have committed even a deliberate venial sin. 
He preserved his baptismal innocence up to his last breath. 

When Aloysius was not quite seven years of age his teachers 
overheard him using an expression he had learned from the soldiers 
of his father. He did so without understanding the meaning of the 
word. Upon being told that the word was highly improper, Aloy- 
sius began to cry most bitterly, asking pardon of all who heard him 
use the word, and ever after he called that time the time of his 
conversion. Theologians doubt whether he even committed a venial 
sin by repeating a word, the meaning of which he did not fully 
understand. And yet the sorrow of the saint over this one fault 



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was lifelong and most pathetic. And do you wish to know what a 
life of penance this innocent boy led? At home as well as else- 
where, whenever he could escape from the general meals with 
others of his rank and station, he would eat so sparingly, and then 
only foods for which he had the least desire, that people often 
wondered how he could keep alive. His eyes and ears he kept in 
perfect control. Whatever might in the least violate his feehng of 
modesty he wanted not to see or hear. His mortifications when 
still in the world were far greater than even the mortifications ex- 
pected of pious souls in convents. 

And now, let me ask you, what have we to show in comparison 
with this saint. Do we keep our eyes and ears in such perfect con- 
trol that we permit nothing to enter through them into our souls 
that would in the least injure our feeling of modesty? Is it not a 
fact that we are eager to see and hear everything under the plea 
that we are wise enough to know when to quit? And we only 
imagine that we are wise enough. The fact is that none of us 
could match our little learning against that of this saint. If he 
with all his learning was so careful, how much more careful ought 
we to be! 

Christian art pictures St. Aloysius with a crown at his feet, to 
teach us that he thought little of earthly honors. At his side we 
see a skull and a scourge. The skull indicates that he saw clearly 
the vanity of all earthly things; the scourge indicates his spirit of 
penance. The saint chastised his body by scourging, by sleeping 
upon a bare board instead of a soft bed, and by many other acts 
of penance and self-denial. What can we show in penance and 
mortification? The Church, it is true, does not require you to fast 
until you are of age. Still, a fast day now and then would by no 
means mean a hardship to you. The saint did not wait with fasting 



ST. ALOYSIUS 



297 



until he was of age. We might practise many various acts of self- 
denial without injuring our health. But, alas, our desire for ease, 
comfort and pleasure gets the better of us. Whenever we are put to 
extra effort or some little annoyance, do we not try industriously to 
escape it? 

At the present time modesty is difficult to preserve, because we 
will not hear of penance or of any kind of mortification. We 
exercise no control over eyes, ears or tongue. We give the enemy 
of souls full sway to do as he likes, and he makes good use of his 
opportunities. And then we go and complain that we are so much 
vexed with temptations. If we had our senses in perfect control, 
as St, Aloysius had his, if we were lovers of mortification as he was, 
we would have less ground to complain about temptations. Those 
who think that penance and mortification belong only within the 
walls of convents and monasteries make a great mistake. I think 
we can safely take it for granted that there is more reason for 
penance and mortification outside of convents than within them. 
Though God may not have chosen you to live the life of a monk, 
you are not dispensed from doing penance. 

Again, the saint is to us a model of humility. He had every 
qualification to allow of some reasonable pride. The crown and 
title of duke were to be his ; he had wealth at his command ; he was 
liked and admired; his wonderful learning gained respect for his 
wisdom. Yet we find the saint simple and plain, as though he had 
been the child of a poor farmer. Neither learning nor rank, neither 
wealth nor honors, could turn his head. And we, while we have 
not much to boast of, fairly burst with pride. Others are brighter 
than we, others outrank us in station and honor, others may be 
more attractive then we, yet we are always ready to belittle others 
and to push ourselves to the foreground, fondly imagining that we 



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are so much better than all the rest. Ignorance and pride go usually 
side by side. Much reason indeed we have to feel asha:med of our- 
selves when we consider the humility of a St. Aloysius \ 

Lastly, St. Aloysius shines forth as a model of piety. The en- 
vironment in which he lived was not always favorable to a pious 
life. At the court of princes and kings, and at universities, life 
offers few opportunities for true piety. Still, the saint never neg- 
lected the duty of prayer. Little is the praying that we do. We 
may perform some little good work, perhaps not even with the right 
intention, and immediately we imagine that we are almost too good 
for this world ! To receive holy Communion once a month seems 
unnecessary to many. They actually fear they may become too 
saintly ! To spend a quarter of an hour saying the rosary is too long 
a time, while we do not worry over hours spent foolishly, perhaps 
even sinfully. St. Aloysius went to Confession and holy Com- 
munion every Sunday. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he 
thanked God for the grace he had received^ and on Thursday, 
Friday and Saturday prepared himself for the next holy Com- 
munion. 

When we think of our own indifference and compare it with the 
zeal of this saint, we must come to the conclusion that all our 
aspirations are for our earthly welfare and that we care little for 
our soul. 

Let us pray to St. Aloysius, the patron of our SodaUty, that 
through his powerful intercession we may be animated with a holy 
zeal for the glory of God and for the salvation of our soul. 



THE BOY AND HIS GUARDIAN ANGEL 



299 



XLIX. The Boy and His Guardian Angel 

My Dear Boys: — The pictures you see of the Guardian 
Angel show him in the act of protecting a small child. By picturing 
man as a little child, Christian art desires to emphasize our own 
helplessness and the superior power of the Guardian Angel. When 
we were children we had all confidence in the power of this angel. 
Gradually, as we grew older and stronger, the importance of the 
Guardian Angel began to grow less and less, till at length we hardly 
felt a necessity of having an angel with us. A boy of sixteen or 
over often feels as though he needed no one to take care of him. 
Because he earns a few dollars he feels that he can well take care 
of himself. 

Such a boy overlooks two important truths. 

The first truth is a Guardian Angel has been given to us not only 
for the years of childhood, but for our entire life. 

The second truth is that if we need the help of a Guardian Angel 
when we are little, we are a great deal more in need of him as we 
grow older, because dangers and temptations increase as our ability 
to sin increases. 

Let us consider these two truths separately, drawing from each 
its wholesome lesson. 

From all eternity God had us in mind. He saw the many dangers 
to which we would be exposed, and He determined upon giving 
each one of us throughout our whole life a companion who would 
never be wanting in either power or wisdom to guide and protect 
us. This responsibility He considered so great that He did not 
entrust it to any one man or set of men, but to one of His own 
angels, an unmistakable proof of God's loving forethought. 



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No sooner does God create a soul, when He places it in charge 
of one of His angels. That angel remains with that soul until it 
returns to its Maker. Nor is the Guardian Angel simply like a 
shadow of a man, without any more influence than a shadow. The 
angel actually does what his name implies — ^he guards and protects. 
In his tender sohcitude he guards and protects us, first of all, out 
of love of God, and, furthermore, because in our souls he recog- 
nizes beings who are to share with him the happiness of heaven. 
He knows the place that is waiting for us in heaven. He knows 
that we, though weak and frail, are chosen heirs of the kingdom of 
God. Without any feeling of envy he sees that we are called to 
taste in holy Communion even now spiritual joys that are denied 
him. Our frailty and helplessness make him care for us all the 
more, because the promotion of the honor and glory of God is a 
source of joy and happiness to him. 

And what sublime lessons we should draw from the constant 
presence of our Guardian Angel! Our home may be ever so 
humble, it is the home of our angel. Our work may be ever so 
lowly, he is at our side. We may not be able to boast of a single 
true friend on earth; our Guardian Angel will stand by us always. 
The world may be inclined to judge us by the clothes we wear, or 
by our rank; he sees in us children of God and heirs of heaven. 

The world may judge us wrongly and condemn us, He, knowing 
our hearts, will tell us : 'Tear not, for I am with you. I am stronger 
than all the world." What consolation this thought should give us ! 

Again, the constant presence of our Guardian Angel should be a 
source of strength for us. Being constantly with us, he certainly 
can not be pleased when we associate with bad company. You 
know what it means to bring two people together who are deadly 
enemies. They consider it an insult to be brought into one another^s 



THE BOY AND HIS GUARDIAN ANGEL 301 

company. Have you ever thought that by going with bad com- 
panions you insult your Guardian Angel? With those bad com- 
panions will be found the spirit of darkness, the devil. If you 
realized how your Guardian Angel must feel to be near the arch- 
enemy of God, not one of you would be found with bad company 
in future. Would you think for a moment of taking your mother 
or sisters into the company of thieves and cutthroats? No, you 
would never think of doing that. You would fear that your 
mother or sisters would be exposed to insults and even harm. It 
behooves you to show the same consideration for your Guardian 
Angel. 

Some supposed friend may propose to take you to a theatre to 
which you would not dare take your mother or sisters. If the 
show is too bad for them to see, it is not the proper place to which 
to take your Guardian Angel. An evil companion might tempt you 
to commit a sin you would not dare to even think of with the knowl- 
edge of your father or mother. The sin may be so vile that your 
wicked companion will pick out a hidden place to commit it. But no 
place will be so well hidden that it will prevent your Guardian Angel 
from being a witness of it. You have even greater reason of feeling 
ashamed of yourself in the presence of your Guardian Angel, be- 
cause he is far more pure and holy than the best parents ever can 
be. Therefore he must despise sin still more than you or your 
parents could ever despise it. Again, it is your interest to act so 
that your Guardian Angel may at all times have a good opinion of 
you. Parents may be deceived into forming a better opinion of 
you than you deserve ; but you can not deceive the angel who reads 
your heart like a book. 

In performing some good work you may be misjudged. What a 
consolation to know that your Guardian Angel judges you rightly. 



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Some good work may be extremely difficult for you; it may mean 
a sacrifice of which the world has neither knowledge or appreciation. 
What consolation for you to know that your Guardian Angel keeps 
exact record of all the good you do and the sacrifices it demands. 
All these consoling lessons are drawn from the constant presence 
of the Guardian Angel. 

The second truth is that since dangers and temptations increase 
as we grow older, the need of a Guardian Angel also increases in 
the same measure. 

You have found that your temptations are far greater now than 
at the time you began going to school. At twenty they will be 
more vehement than now, and at thirty they will be even more in- 
tense. The most dangerous and greatest temptations will be ex- 
perienced in the hour of death. The devil will realize, far better 
than we, that our end approaches and that, unless he succeeds now, 
he will see us beyond his reach. Hence he will spare no efforts to 
make us fall into sin the very last moment. Hence, too, the need 
of the Guardian Angel is greater at the end of life than at any other 
tim-e during our life. If we ever need a Guardian Angel it is at that 
last moment, to reach out a helping hand to guide us when all the 
world stands back and lets us enter the other world alone. 

You may ask: "How can a pure spirit be of help to a being 
composed of body and soul? The spirit being invisible, how can it 
affect the visible?" I might answer this question with another 
question. The devil, too, is a spirit. How is it possible for him to 
affect us, how can he tempt us? The fact is, he does. He works 
by offering suggestions and by bringing us in contact with people 
of his own kind and stamp. If, then, the power of the devil is such, 
must not the power of an angel of God be still greater? It can not 
be possible that the devil is more powerful than God. 



THE BOY AND HIS GUARDIAN ANGEL 



303 



While some saints have been given the grace of seeing their 
Guardian Angels in visible form, we poor sinners are not generally 
worthy of such a signal favor. Still he has many ways of in- 
fluencing us. He speaks to us principally by pious thoughts that 
enter our minds even unbidden. Though the devil may send us 
many evil suggestions, our good angel will more than outweigh 
them by pious suggestions. It is to be regretted that we pay so little 
attention to the voice of our angel. The blame rests with us, since 
in support of the influence of our Guardian Angel we receive from 
God the grace to overcome the evil suggestion. 

Besides the good suggestions given by him, our Guardian Angel 
wards off many dangers to which we are exposed, and for which, as 
a rule, he gets little thanks. Every one of us can recall instances 
where we were within an inch of death. We read of miraculous 
escapes in the daily papers. It is usually called good luck. People 
say they had a close call. In very few instances will they have the 
good sense of thanking their Guardian Angel. 

Ordinarily God does not work miracles for us. They are the 
exception rather than the rule. God is powerful enough to guide 
our destiny according to the natural order of events to obtain His 
end. Hence, too, excepting in rare cases, the activity of a Guardian 
Angel is directed along natural lines. In some way, not at all ap- 
proaching the miraculous, our Guardian Angel will bring us in 
contact with noble example ; he will suggest to us the happiness of 
serving God, the beauty of virtue, the punishment of vice, the 
vanity of worldly things. Thoughts of encouragement will rise up 
in our hearts to strengthen our good resolutions ; warnings will be 
sounded when we are in danger of sinning. In difliculties we see a 
sudden light that shows us the way out, though we have struggled 
in vain to find a solution. All this is the work of a Guardian Angel, 



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who is at all times true to his sacred duty. Two places to which 
he will especially try to lead us are the Confessional and the Taber- 
nacle. 

What else need be said to show that we should have now the same 
devotion to our Guardian Angel that we had as little children ? 

When we were little children we were told to pray to the Guardian 
Angel every day. Let us make it again a custom to pray to him 
every day, and pray as fervently as we did in the days of childhood. 

When we were little children we were told to thank our Guardian 
Angel for all favors received. At our present age we receive more 
favors from him than ever before. We have had the benefit of 
his protection for years and years, without troubling to thank for 
it. Let us begin again to thank him daily for the interest he takes 
in our bodily and spiritual welfare. 

When we were little children we were told to obey our Guardian 
Angel. This duty of obeying his commands has not ceased with 
childhood. We are as much in need of his guidance as ever. We 
have as much reason to obey him now as ever. His authority over 
us does not grow less with our increasing years. Let us give ready 
attention to every pious thought and suggestion he conveys to us. 

By following the rules of conduct laid down to us when we were 
children, his guardianship over us will be a source of joy and hap- 
piness to him and to us a source of consolation. Our Guardian 
Angel will stand by us no matter what the odds may be. At all 
times he is stronger than all the powers of hell combined. Espe- 
cially at the last moments of our life will we be able to rely upon 
his power and wisdom if, through our life, we follow his holy 
guidance. 



THE BOY AND HIS DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN 305 



L. The Boy and His Devotion to the Blessed Virgin 

My Dear Boys: — In the early part of the eighteenth century 
there Hved in France a young man who publicly denied his faith and 
did everything in his power to hurt the Church. Out of hatred for 
the Church he decided to go and offer his services to the army of 
the Sultan of Turkey, to make war upon Christians. So he set out 
for Turkey. On his way he was attacked by robbers. Fearing 
for his life, he began to pray and promised the blessed Virgin that 
if the robbers would spare his life, he would return to France and 
do penance for the rest of his life. The robbers, after searching 
him for money, gave him his liberty. When out of danger the 
young man forgot his promise and continued his journey, reached 
the capital of Turkey and tendered his services to the Sultan. He 
was soon made an officer in the army. 

One night this young man had a terrible dream. He heard the 
voice of Satan demanding his soul from God, claiming that it had 
deserved hell a thousand times. The devil stated that he himself 
was condemned for a single sin, whereas this wretch had offended 
often, renouncing even his God by joining the army of the infidels. 
Since no answer was given by God, the devil urged his demand, 
asking whether it was fair to save the soul of this man just because 
he made a vow he never thought of keeping, and he then reproached 
God most bitterly for permitting the Immaculate Mother to inter- 
fere in this as in countless other cases. 

The terrified young man awoke. The dream was so vivid, he 
imagined he still heard the voice of the devil ringing in his ears. 
That very morning he resigned his commission and left for France. 



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There, at Paris, he began to study for the priesthood and was 
finally ordained a priest. In the course of time he became famous 
as Father Bernard. Above all he was the priest of the poor and of 
erring souls. He lived a life of most austere penance, brought 
about many wonderful conversions, and was one of the most loyal 
promoters of the glories of Mary. His zeal for souls, his tireless 
work among what others would regard as hopeless cases, and his 
love for the poor, together with his works of charity and mortifica- 
tion made him the most popular and most prominent priest of 
his day. The scandal he had given in his younger days was atoned 
for by his great zeal and penance. 

Father Bernard had learned that the power of the Blessed Virgin 
was more efficacious than all the powers of hell. To her inter- 
cession he owed not only the saving of his life but the saving of his 
soul, as also the graces he received through his holy vocation for 
saving the souls of numerous other people. Hence he was a most 
ardent promoter of the devotion to the blessed Mother. Had any- 
one told this man before his conversion that he would ever return to 
the Church and become a priest, he would have ridiculed the very 
thought. Yet the apparently impossible did happen. The wolf 
was turned into a lamb. 

The life of Father Bernard is but one of countless examples that 
show us the great power of our blessed Mother. We might gather 
enough such examples to fill a big library, and even then we would 
not exhaust all the facts that could be recorded. 

In our conferences we have reviewed the lives of a number of boy 
saints and learned from them lessons fitted to your age and needs. 
It would be a grievous wrong, indeed, were we to overlook the 
Queen of all saints, the ever blessed Virgin Mary. 

And so let us try to understand the spirit of the devotion in her 



THE BOY AND HIS DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN 307 



honor, and consider two of the principal benefits bestowed upon 
her zealous children. 

The devotion in honor of our blessed Mother is in a class all by 
itself. It is of a more intimate nature than our devotion to other 
saints, because she is our Mother, whereas they are only our 
friends. Hence the honor, reverence and homage we pay her is 
second only to that we pay to God. We adore God as our Lord 
and Maker. We do not adore the blessed Virgin and Mother Mary, 
but we honor and love her as our Mother. This is the reason why 
her praises are and should be sounded more than those of all other 
saints combined. Of her it is prophesied that "all generations shall 
call her blessed." 

Various times and needs call for special devotions. But the most 
general devotion, the devotion not limited by time or circumstances, 
is the devotion to our blessed Mother. That devotion was known 
and practised in the catacombs of Rome. We can still see her 
pictures adorning the walls of those historical places. The early 
Christians looked up to her picture to gather strength for the great 
struggle they had to undergo for the sake of her Divine Son. 

And in what does this devotion consist? First of all it consists 
in a childlike love for the blessed Virgin. Though a child recog- 
nizes the father as the head of the family, it will be much attached 
to the mother. For, while the child expects all benefits from the 
father, as the provider of the family, it will expect them more con- 
fidently if able to reveal its wants to the mother, depending almost 
as much upon the mother's intercession as upon the generosity of the 
father. 

This explains why we, as Catholics, have such an unbounded con- 
fidence in the ever blessed Virgin. She is our loving Mother. Her 



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motherly love removes our fear or doubt, and we ask favors of Her 
that we feel almost unworthy to ask of the heavenly Father. 

The love a child has for its mother does by no means lessen its 
love for the father. If anything, it tends to increase it. In a like 
manner the love we have for our blessed Mother does by no means 
interfere with or lessen our love for our heavenly Father. The 
sublime love of God manifested by the blessed Virgin remind her 
children that they can not truly love her without loving God even 
more. 

Our love for our blessed Mother will find expression in saying 
the prayer she likes most — the Rosary. We show our love by wear- 
ing her scapular, and by reciting the prayers she wants us to say. 
She likes us to carry a medal of her, to honor her pictures, to ob- 
serve her feast days. A devout child of Mary will not let a single 
day pass without saying some prayer and doing some good work in 
her honor. What she likes above all is for us to ofifer some good 
work or an indulgence to be applied to some poor soul in purgatory 
who during life was a devout child of hers. A good child will be 
so zealous in doing the will of his mother that her slightest wish has 
the power of a command. In like manner we need not be told what 
our blessed Mother wants us to do. We should know by intuition 
to do what she likes to see us do, and to avoid what she wants us to 
avoid. 

Hence we should not be content with only saying prayers in her 
honor. That is only part of the devotion we owe her. The better 
part of our devotion will consist in imitating her holy life. 

With not a stain of sin upon her, without original sin and its 
inclination towards evil to cloud her spotless purity, and with so 
many graces as to be called "full of grace," the life of the blessed 
Virgin and Mother is indeed a worthy model for all mankind to 



THE BOY AND HIS DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN 309 



follow. The various saints of holy Church each excelled in some 
of the many virtues. Our blessed Mother is a perfect model of all 
virtues. Hence she is worthy to be called ''the mirror of justice." v 
In as far as human nature can be perfect she has attained perfec- 
tion, not in one virtue only but in all of them. As Virgin she is 
most wise, most holy and most chaste. As Mother she is the most 
perfect of mothers. Our blessed Mother is therefore the most per- 
fect model for all mankind. Rich as well as poor, the high and the 
low, young and old, boys and girls, married and single people — all 
find in her a most worthy model, according to which they should 
form and shape their lives. The imitation of her life is, further- 
more, not left to us as a matter of choice. We are bound to imi- 
tate her for the reason that, being her children, we should resemble 
her. Children will imitate various traits of father and mother with- 
out being aware of it. They will resemble mother or father not 
in looks only, but they speak, walk and act like them. As a mother 
takes so much greater pride and satisfaction in her children the 
more they resemble her in good qualities, so our blessed Mother 
will take pride and comfort in us when she can see that we earnestly 
try to resemble her more and more. The more we try to be like 
her, the more she will be promoted to love us. 

For this reason the benefits those receive who try to make a spe- 
cial effort of pleasing her are manifold. To enumerate them all 
would be a pleasant but a lengthy task. Let us point out two of the 
principal benefits. One of them is purity of heart. Since purity 
of heart was the most beautiful of all her many virtues, our blessed 
Mother is desirous that her favorite children should imitate her 
above all in this particular virtue. You, my boys, can never expect 
to remain pure at heart unless you entertain a childlike love for our 
blessed Mother Indeed, our love for the virtue of purity grows in 



310 



CONFERENCES FOR BOYS 



us in proportion as our love for our blessed Mother grows. It is 
simply impossible to be a devout child of our blessed Mother and 
at the same time to lead an impure life. Purity of heart and the 
devotion to our blessed Mother go hand in hand. 

Another favor especially granted through the devotion to our 
blessed Mother is the grace of final perseverance. 

It is the experience of the saints and their universal opinion that, 
as no soul is saved excepting through her glorious intercession, 
neither will a soul that has loved and served our blessed Mother 
be found among the numbers of the damned. If you want to know 
whether you are to be among the elect or the damned, just look a' 
the quality of your devotion to our blessed Mother. If we love he 
and serve her sincerely and try to imitate her, we need have no fe 
of the final outcome. Our blessed Mother will take care of us 
If, however^ we are too indifferent to say even a little prayer in 
her honor, if we never think of her, then, indeed, we have reason 
to fear for our final salvation. 

Your patron saint, your Guardian Angel, and other saints t 
whom you feel yourself drawn for some reason, they all expe 
some act of devotion from you every day. But the devotion to ou 
blessed Mother should excel all these. Let us never consider th 
work of the day done unless we pay our blessed Mother, as best w 
can, the honor, reverence and love due to her. When all other tasks 
might seem burdensome, that one should prove pleasant and sweet. 
If we serve her faithfully we may depend upon it that she wiil 
intercede for us now and in the hour of our death. Amen. 



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